By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 5, 2024
Paris – Iga Swiatek proved once again during the Paris fortnight that she is well and truly the queen of clay. But when it comes to grass, well, the five-time major champion is still very much unproven. That isn’t to say she isn’t one of the players who could win it this year.
Swiatek currently owns a 9-4 overall record at the Championships, not bad at all but certainly iot pales in comparison to her stunning 35-2 record at Roland-Garros. Last year was the Pole’s best performance yet at SW19 – Swiatek reached the quarterfinals before falling to Elina Svitolina in three sets.
The one big issue for Swiatek, of course, is that Wimbledon starts in a mere three weeks, which doesn’t give her much time to rest and recover after a long and physically taxing slog on the clay.
“I think to play some matches before Wimbledon is also good, but on the other hand, I played basically almost every match in Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome and here, and so we need to take care of my physicality, as well. So we'll see what the plans are,” Swiatek said.
A former Wimbledon girls champion, Swiatek says she felt that playing a lead-up event in Bad Homburg helped her last year, but more importantly, she thinks she’ll benefit from having beefed up her serve this season.
“I think the biggest progress I can make on grass right now is using my serves,” she said, “but also I don't expect a lot. The balls are different. Overall tennis is different on grass. I'll just see and I'll work hard to play better there.”
Olympic Year Crowds the Schedule
Swiatek also has the Olympics to think about later this summer, and the Pole will not want to miss the chance to bring home Olympic Gold for her country. She joked that her grass court tennis might benefit if she lost early at Roland-Garros, but that’s something she clearly isn’t willing to do (just ask Naomi Osaka).
“I just need to continue the work that I've been doing,” she said, of her grass game. “It's been easier every year, especially with my coach [Tomasz Wiktorowski] who, with Radwanska, they had great results on grass and he kind of feels grass well.
“For sure it's a huge challenge,” she said. “If I would lose here earlier, maybe I would be able to play two more weeks on grass and then be a better grass player, but if I would choose, I love playing on clay, so I'm not going to give up that ever.”