By Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Friday, June 30, 2023
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was forced to withdraw from her first career grass-court semifinal with illness a few days before the start of Wimbledon.
Just a day after reaching the semifinals in the WTA 250 event in Bad Homburg, Germany, Swiatek withdrew from the event due to “fever and possible food poisoning” as she explained on social media.
The current World No. 1 and reigning Roland Garros champion is set to face World No. 33 Lin Zhu in the first round at Wimbledon. The Polish star, who won the junior title at Wimbledon a few years ago, is hoping to go further than a career best fourth round at Wimbledon.
Before her withdrawal, Swiatek has been on a 10 match win streak stretching back to the opening of Roland Garros.
Despite her top ranking, many feel Swiatek is still vulnerable to an upset on grass courts. That opinion is shared by all-time great Chris Evert who spoke about Swiatek’s chances during a recent ESPN press conference.
“I’m nitpicking here because she’s No. 1 in the world and she’s great, and I think she can win Wimbledon, don’t get wrong,” Evert said. “But there’s some little nuances in her game that might hurt her a little bit on the grass court that don’t affect her as much, that help her actually, on the other surfaces.”
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