By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday, July 6, 2024
What needs to happen? Iga Swatec How to become a Wimbledon champion? After losing 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to Yulia Putintseva on day six, the Polish player says she knows what she has to do.
“I know what I have to change and I will,” Swiatek told reporters in Wimbledon’s main press room on Saturday night. “But the grass season is over so I don’t have to think about this match in terms of analysis for next week because it’s going to be completely different on clay and hard.”
Now is not the time to think about it. Swiatek is heading to the Olympics in Paris, which is a very important event for her, as is the rest of the hard-court season in North America.
When she revisits her situation on grass, she will need to find a way to do two things: first, to completely refresh and recharge her batteries, which is no easy task given how much she has invested in the clay-court season. Having won four of the last six Roland Garros titles, Swatek is usually the last woman to leave clay in early June, which puts her at a distinct disadvantage when she steps onto grass.
As they say, fatigue is real.
Secondly, she needs to find ways to spend more time on the surfaces so she can develop a sense of comfort on both clay and hard courts.
Lessons learned 👏🏼 @iga_swiatek
See you soon, Champion 🫶#wimbledon pic.twitter.com/En0WsMbAdJ
— Tennis (@Tennis) July 6, 2024
For Swatec, the mental aspect is more important than the technical or tactical.
“I think I need a little more energy to be patient and accept my mistakes on grass,” she told the press. “Mentally, I didn’t do so well in this tournament. I need to recover better physically and mentally after the clay season.”
It’s not that Swatek isn’t capable or talented enough to win on grass, she just has to figure out how to transition and demonstrate the deep focus that is the hallmark of her success on clay.
“It’s not easy to go from playing the best tennis I’ve ever played in my life to playing on a different surface that’s a little bit more challenging,” she said. “I lost in the third round. I think I underperformed a little bit. But it’s tennis, so I have to keep going. I’ll have a lot more opportunities to show my skills this year. I’ll just focus on that.” Grass is still a problem for the five-time major champion, and Wimbledon is a major obstacle to her as she tries to expand her Grand Slam empire. Of course, she wants to win the coveted career Grand Slam – winning all four majors at least once. And she has plenty of time to do that. She has the talent. She just needs to spend a little more time getting in the right frame of mind and feeling comfortable the next time she steps onto grass. It’s the same challenge that clay king Rafael Nadal faced every time he won Roland Garros. Grass didn’t come naturally to him. Despite the tight schedule, he found a way to do it at Wimbledon. Iga is no Rafa, but she can be just as inspiring on grass as she is on clay.
Keep in mind that Swiatek is only 23 years old and her success on clay has left her with some tough obstacles when playing on grass. Over time, she will probably work out her issues and become a much more reliable force on grass than she is now.
No need to panic. She is a five-time major champion and just turned 23. If she hadn’t won Wimbledon in five years, we might have sounded some alarms. Now she’s back in Paris, looking for gold.
