Poland’s World No. 1 Swiatek, who aims for perfection on and off the court, wants to get better at playing on grass
Iga Swiatek during a practice session in London on Saturday. Pic/Getty Images
Shortly after Iga Swiatek completed the most lopsided French Open final in 17 years, ceding a grand total of three games against an overmatched opponent to claim a third consecutive title in Paris, she was asked whether that represented a perfect performance.
Swiatek’s mind immediately went to what little went wrong in Court Philippe Chatrier that afternoon. “Obviously, I mean, I got broken at the beginning,” she said, “so it wasn’t maybe perfect.”
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A few minutes later, Swiatek used the word “perfectionist” to describe herself, perhaps offering some insight as to how she is approaching Wimbledon, the grass-court major that begins on Monday—and the only Grand Slam tournament where she hasn’t been past the quarter-finals.
‘Tennis is different on grass’
“Overall, tennis is different on grass,” said Swiatek, who was a junior champion at the All England Club in 2018. “I’ll just see and I’ll work hard to play better there.” The 23-year-old from Poland has won four of the past five trophies on the red clay at Roland Garros, capped by a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Jasmine Paolini for the championship on June 8.
For someone who talks a lot about wanting to get “better and better,” not to mention someone who wants to do things perfectly on and off the court, it would make sense if she wanted to improve at Wimbledon.
Serve and volleys crucial
Specifically, that might entail using her serve and her volleys to accumulate more easy points on the slick surface. As it is, there isn’t much time spent on grass during the grind of the season, and Swiatek pulled out of a tuneup event on that surface after the French Open.
“When I do anything, I want to do it 100%. I think when you’re a perfectionist, you are a perfectionist everywhere ... and sometimes not being able to let it go,” Swiatek explained. “I’m working on it, and this is a tricky thing, because, for sure, it helps you to be better, but sometimes it can be huge baggage, as well. So it’s good to manage it properly.”
How does a player beat Swiatek on clay? “It’s hard. You have to err very little,” said Paolini.
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