Iga Swiatek continued her dominance on clay by claiming her fourth French Open title a few weeks ago. She has also consistently demonstrated her excellence on hard courts by winning the 2022 US Open, the WTA Finals last year and seven WTA 1000 titles. The only surface the world number one has not yet mastered is grass. Swiatek will start her Wimbledon campaign with a tough match against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. But is the Pole ready to fight for the title at SW19?
Can Iga Swiatek take the next step on grass at Wimbledon?
Last year’s performance will give Swiatek courage
Swiatek reached the quarterfinals in London last year, where she lost to Elina Switolina at that stage. This is her best performance at the event so far. After comfortably defeating Zhu Lin, Sara Sorribes Tormo and Petra Martic in the first three rounds, she showed her champion mentality by fending off match points and defeating Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, who was on fire for much of the match.
The Pole has openly admitted that she is least comfortable on grass. However, her moves on this surface were undoubtedly the best we have seen from the world number 1 over the last year. Swiatek’s incredible successes throughout her career also make it easy to forget that she is only 22 years old. The likelihood that she will continue 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 serve motion this season. It is now smoother and shorter, and the four-time Grand Slam winner believes this will help her, especially in moments of pressure. The positive results since the change are clear. In 2023, she held 80.4% of her serve games; this season, that number currently stands at 83.8%. Her serve is also almost ten miles per hour faster than it was in 2023.
The world No. 1 held 75.7% of her serve games, meaning she’s already making improvements in 2023. That undoubtedly helped her reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year. Swiatek’s serve is even better this season, giving her even greater chances of a long run this year.
But does Swiatek believe she can make it to the end at Wimbledon 2024?
Many WTA players have spoken about how demanding the schedule is. This year, it is made even worse by the fact that the Olympics are taking place at Roland-Garros in late July and early August. This means that players competing in the tournament will go from clay at the French Open, to grass at Wimbledon, back to clay at the Olympics, and then to hard court for the North American tour. Because of this, some players have already withdrawn from the Olympics, including two top players.
Swiatek is one of the few players who did not play a grass warm-up tournament before Wimbledon. That’s partly because she wanted to rest up after her exploits during the clay court season. But it’s undoubtedly true that Swiatek feels she has a better chance of winning a gold medal at the Olympics than she does by going all the way at Wimbledon. The fact that she did not play a grass warm-up tournament might suggest that some of her attention is already focused 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 champion Elena Rybakina is also in her half of the draw. Swiatek will need to be at her best to reach the final. The world number one’s improved serve and play on grass mean she could do it. But all her mental focus will need to be on Wimbledon to make the dream a reality.
Photo credit: Susan Mullane – USA TODAY Sports
