Iga Swiatek continued her dominance on clay by claiming a fourth French Open title a few weeks ago. She has has also consistently proven her excellence on hard courts by winning the 2022 US Open, last year’s WTA Finals and seven WTA 1000 titles. The only surface the world No. 1 is yet to master is grass. Swiatek is set to begin her Wimbledon campaign with a tough match against 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, But is the Pole ready to challenge for the title at SW19?
Can Iga Swiatek Take The Next Step On Grass At Wimbledon?
Last Year’s Performance Will Give Swiatek Encouragement
Swiatek reached the quarterfinal last year in London, losing to Elina Svitolina at this stage. That is her best performance to date at the event. After comfortably defeating Zhu Lin, Sara Sorribes Tormo, and Petra Martic in the opening three rounds, she showed her champion’s mentality by saving match points to beat Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, who was inspired for a lot of the match.
The Pole has been open about being least comfortable on grass. However, her movement last year on the surface was undoubtedly the best we have seen from the world No. 1. Swiatek’s incredible achievements during her career also make it easy to forget that she is just 22 years old. The likelihood of her continuing to improve on grass at such a young age is very high.
Swiatek’s Improved Serve Will Help Her at Wimbledon
Swiatek has spoken about how she has changed her service motion this season. It is now smoother and shorter, with the four-time French Open champion feeling it will help her in pressure moments in particular. The positive results since making the change have been clear. In 2023, she held 80.4% of her service games; this season, that number currently stands at 83.8%. Her serve is also almost ten miles per hour quicker than in 2023.
The world No. 1 held 75.7% of her service games, meaning she was already making improvements on it in 2023. That undoubtedly helped her reach the quarterfinal at Wimbledon last year. Swiatek’s serve being even better this season gives her an even greater chance of a deep run this year.
But Does Swiatek Believe She Can Go All the Way at Wimbledon 2024?
Many WTA players have spoken about how grueling the schedule is. That is exacerbated this year by the Olympics taking place at Roland-Garros in late July and early August. That means players competing in the event will be switching from clay at the French Open, to grass at Wimbledon, to clay once again at the Olympics and then onto hard courts for the North American swing. As a result, some players have withdrawn already from the Olympics, including two top female players.
Swiatek is one of a few players who did not play at a warmup event on the grass before Wimbledon. This is partly because she wanted some rest after her heroics during the clay court season. However, it is undoubtedly true that Swiatek will feel she has a better chance of winning a gold medal at the Olympics rather than going the distance at Wimbledon. Not playing a grass court warmup event could indicate that some of her attention is already on the Olympics.
In addition, Swiatek also has a very tough draw at SW19. Defending champion Marketa Vondrousova and Jelena Ostapenko, who she lost to at the US Open last year, are in her quarter. 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina is also in her half of the draw. Swiatek will need to be at her very best to reach the final. The world No. 1’s improved serve and game on grass means she could do it. But all her mental focus needs to be on Wimbledon to turn the dream into a reality.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane – USA TODAY Sports
