Transition from clay to grass easier every year, says Iga Swiatek
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Swiatek has long struggled on grass, and has never gone beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BERLIN – Clay-court specialist Iga Swiatek has never been beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon but the world No. 1 believes that the transition to slick grass surfaces is becoming a little easier each year.
The Polish star warmed up for this season’s grass-court Grand Slam – which starts on Monday – by reaching her first semi-final on the surface at the Bad Homburg Open on Thursday.
On Wednesday, she brushed aside Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1 in the last 16 of the WTA 250 event for her 37th win of the campaign but only an eighth career victory on grass.
“It’s getting easier every year to convert my clay-court style to more grass-court style,” said the 22-year-old, who won her third French Open title earlier in June.
“Before every grass-court season, I just want to keep being open-minded and learn a lot.
“I feel like there’s maybe a little less pressure (than on clay), and when I go on court, I feel like I know how I can play tennis and I know how I can play on other surfaces.
“On grass, sometimes it’s tougher and I still have to learn a lot. But I just feel if you’re going to go on court and not play the way you should or the way you could, it could add more pressure.
“So yes, it’s maybe a little bit less now (when she plays well).”
Swiatek, whose coach Tomasz Wiktorowski previously worked with former world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, added that her grass game would improve with experience.
“I have a coach who knows how to coach players who are good on grass courts like Radwanska, so I’m pretty positive about my future on grass,” she said.
The Pole defeated Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday for a place in the semi-finals of the German event, where she will face Lucia Bronzetti of Italy for a spot in the top two.
Ahead of the quarter-finals, she said: “For sure, today was a good day. I was happy with my performance. I felt like I had everything under control and that’s great.
“For now, I’m just focusing on the process and learning as much as possible.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday, world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of the Mallorca Open in his first match with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 loss to Yannick Hanfmann, a worrying result ahead of Wimbledon.
Following another early exit on grass at the Halle Open last week, the Greek was beaten convincingly by his 31-year-old German opponent, who is ranked 48th.
Strong on his serve, Hanfmann did not face a single break point in the first set and lost only one service game in the match.
He sealed his win against the erratic top seed with a forehand down the line.
“A lot of things have to work to beat a top-10 player and I had a really good start,” said Hanfmann.
“With the wind and the grass, having a match on the first day was really helpful.”
Hanfmann followed that up on Thursday by beating Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals in the Spaniard’s final match before retirement, triumphing 6-2, 6-4.
Off the court, Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, 32, on Thursday announced a comeback after she officially retired from tennis in January 2020.
“Over these past three years away from the game, I got to make up for lost time with my family. I became a mother and now have two beautiful children I am so grateful for. But I still have goals I want to accomplish,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m coming back to play and I can’t wait!” REUTERS, AFP
