Skipping Wimbledon warmups was the smarter decision, says tennis world No. 1 Iga Swiatek

LONDON – Iga Swiatek is approaching Wimbledon a little differently this time round after skipping all the tune-up tournaments, but the top seed thinks it is the best possible move for her as she bids to win her maiden crown at the All England Club.

For all her achievements over the last few seasons, the five-time Grand Slam champion remains largely unproven on grass, with none of her 22 singles titles coming on the surface.

Having been handed a quarter-final defeat by wild card Elina Svitolina in 2023, the 23-year-old Pole will look to improve on that when she begins her Wimbledon campaign against former world No. 4 Sofia Kenin on July 2.

“At the beginning, for sure it was tricky,” Swiatek said, when asked on June 29 how she felt about her Wimbledon preparations.

“I’m happy that I came here early because there is a huge difference between the grass that we have in our own country, for example, and here.

“Day after day I felt like I’m getting more rhythm and I can really feel the ball better. I feel good. For sure, we approached this year a little bit differently, basically because of the amount of matches that I played in the first part of the season.”

Fresh off her fourth French Open crown, the world No. 1 withdrew from the Berlin WTA event in June, citing overall physical and mental fatigue after an intense nine weeks.

“I could probably squeeze in one more tournament before Wimbledon, but I don’t know if I would be able to physically be in a good shape till the end of the year,” she added.

“You kind of have to choose what’s better also for the future. I think that was the smarter decision this year. Next year we’re also going to see how my results are going to look like before Roland Garros because it all comes up to the final decision.”

Swiatek, whose father Tomasz is a former Olympic rower and competed in the men’s quadruple sculls at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, confirmed that she will participate in the Paris 2024 Games.

“It means a lot... We have kind of an Olympic tradition in my family. Olympics were always this kind of tournament that was the most important, kind of above everything else,” she said.

“From my side as a professional, I’m going to treat it as any other tournament, to keep my routines, be able to perform my best. But it would mean obviously a lot.”

Wimbledon runs from July 1-14, while the Paris 2024 Olympics will take place from July 26-Aug 11.

Meanwhile, second seed Coco Gauff said she went through a dark time after her first-round exit from Wimbledon in 2023, but the setback put her career in perspective as she turned her form around.

Gauff, 20, has since won the US Open and reached the semi-finals of the Australian and French Opens.

“I wish a year ago, me after that match could see me now,” the American said on June 29. “That was a tough moment for me. I think the first two, three weeks after that, I was really in a dark place.

“It was tough for me to realise I have so much time. When that happens, you just feel the weight of everything on you. I think I had high expectations at that age. I still do.”

Gauff said she did not feel any extra pressure ahead of playing fellow American Caroline Dolehide in the first round on July 1.

“With Wimbledon, I’m really relaxed going into this year. I didn’t have a great Wimbledon last year. It’s like it couldn’t get any worse, it can only get better or the same,” she said.

The world No. 2 said it did not matter to her that top seed Swiatek, who has beaten her in 11 of 12 matches, was placed on the other side of the draw, since she needed to beat everybody to win.

“It gives you confidence obviously when you see that the field isn’t stacked... in the way where there’s one player dominating or three players dominating,” she said. “I think everybody has an equal shot and it’s just about who can perform better that week.”

The other main contender, third seed Aryna Sabalenka, said she was not fully ready for her first-round clash with Emina Bektas on July 1 as the two-time Australian Open champion continues to struggle with a rare shoulder injury.

Sabalenka, who also suffered a lower back injury earlier in 2024 and was down with a sickness during the French Open earlier in June, said her health was a reason she had chosen not to play at the Olympics.

“No, I’m not 100 per cent fit now. We are doing everything we can with my team to make sure I’ll be able to play my first match here, but, no, I’m not 100 per cent ready,” she said on June 29.

“It (the muscle) is teres major... it’s really a specific injury, and it’s really a rare one. Probably I’m just the second or the third tennis player who injured that muscle,” the Belarusian said.

“The most annoying thing is that I can do anything. I can practise, I can hit my groundstrokes. I’m struggling with serving. That’s really annoying. You don’t feel like you’re injured... but if you tell me to serve, I’m going to go through pain.” REUTERS