Swiatek buoyed by best preparation for grass season
The Pole said extra practice and her run to the final in Germany had boosted her confidence
Zuma / Psnewz
After a far less productive clay-court season than usual, Iga Swiatek probably feared the worst as the grass-court season began, not a part of the year that’s yielded much success in the past.
But sometimes, things just click into place and so the Pole arrived at Wimbledon feeling much better about her form and her hopes for the Championships, having reached the final in Bad Homburg, narrowly missing out on the title.
“For sure probably so far it’s the best one that I’ve had,” Swiatek told reporters at Wimbledon on Sunday, talking about her grass-court preparations. “I had really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Also having more time to practise before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a little bit more skills.
“I think it’s just having the experience of playing few matches before, the same as in 2023, it gives you more confidence. I don’t know. You just have to get through some situations on the court, and gives you the extra experience and kind of the momentum to go forward. I’m really happy I had opportunity to play there. I played the top players, so it gives a lot.”
Paolini win in Germany crucial, but grass still tough
Swiatek said her win over Jasmine Paolini, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, had given her extra confidence.
“Yeah, it was for sure something that I wasn’t expecting,” she said. “It gave me a lot of confidence. Obviously it’s tennis, so every day is different, but I felt like I’m playing great. I really pushed Jasmine the way I wanted to. So it was great.”
Despite her confidence, Swiatek said grass still presents her with more difficulty than clay or hard courts.
“It’s not like 180 degrees change,” she said. “I wouldn’t say like now suddenly everything is, like, perfect, because it’s still a difficult surface. It’s still tricky.
“Every year it feels like it’s a little bit easier to get used to the surface and then you have more time to just develop as a player and having more days (on it). I didn’t stay home. I went to Mallorca to practice. Just more time to work on some movement and stepping to the ball a little bit differently than on clay. It helped.
“But overall it also depends on the confidence you have at the moment. You really have to trust your shots on grass. You can’t really pull back. Any shot that will give your opponent more time to go in is probably the shot that will make you lose the rally. I just went for it in Bad Homburg, and it really worked. I’ll continue that.”
Swiatek, seeded eighth for this year’s Wimbledon, will play Polina Kudermetova of Russia in the first round.
