Iga Swiatek ‘can win Wimbledon multiple times’ despite grass flaws

Iga Swiatek doesn’t have the type of game “to feel comfortable playing on grass”, but that doesn’t mean she can’t win Wimbledon, according to Mats Wilander.

The world No 1 is yet to master the art of playing on grass as she has a modest 7-5 record on the surface following Monday’s opening-round win at Bad Homburg, which is in stark contrast to her clay-court record of 63–9 and hard-court win-loss ratio of 97–33.

This year will mark Swiatek’s fourth visit to Wimbledon with her best run coming in 2021 when she reached the fourth round while last year she exited one round earlier as Alize Cornet ended her 37-match unbeaten run with a two-set win.

Although she will be the top seed at SW19 this year, former world No 1 Andy Roddick declared earlier this month that the Pole is maybe the “third [or] fourth” favourite to win Wimbledon and seven-time Grand Slam winner Wilander shared similar views.

However, during a Eurosport broadcast the Swede explained that despite Swiatek’s lack of success on grass, it doesn’t mean she can’t win Wimbledon this year or in future.

“She is most probably feeling very similar to a lot of ‘us’ that went to Wimbledon that were seeded amongst sort of the first two or three or four. And on paper, we feel that, hey, ‘I should have a chance’,” Wilander said.

“But not every year did I go in thinking I have a chance to win Wimbledon. But there were a few years when I thought, ‘oh, I’m one of the three or four favourites’. And I think Iga is most probably past that feeling where ‘I hope and I wish that I’m going to be a great grass-court player, that I feel comfortable playing on this surface’.

“And I think she’s already found out that, no, she’s not going to feel comfortable playing on a grass court.

“She’s going to learn how to play better on it. Is she ever going to be a better grass-court player than a clay-court player? No.

“Is she going to be a better grass-court player than a hard court player? Most probably not. That doesn’t mean she can’t win the tournament.

“So, I think for her, the dream might not be there where ‘I might win six or seven Wimbledons’, but she knows that the dream is alive. ‘I can win Wimbledon. I know how to play on a grass court’.

“But she needs to keep developing her game and she needs to realise that you’re never going to feel perfect on a grass court, not with her game.

“No one really does unless you hit aces and hit winners because you’re slipping and sliding. So Iga is a threat. She can win Wimbledon multiple times. I think this would be a really good year to start telling the world: ‘hey, I’m here I am okay with grass and I think I’m one of the favourites'”.

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