WATCH: Iga Swiatek finding her feet on grass with a tweener

Shahida Jacobs
Iga Swiatek speech after a match
Iga Swiatek pleased

Iga Swiatek is not known for producing trick shots let alone on her least favourite surface, yet she came up with a brilliant tweener during a second-round match at the Bad Homburg Open.

The world No 1 – who is 37-6 for the 2023 season following Wednesday’s win – notched up only her eighth career victory on grass as she defeated Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1 in the last 16 of the WTA 250 event in Germany.

It is a big confidence booster with Wimbledon just around the corner as she looks to finally click at SW19.

“I think it’s my first grass-court quarter-final, so pretty excited,” Swiatek said after the match. “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.”

After saving three break points in the second game, Swiatek broke in game five and she did so on the back of a well-executed tweener.

A second break followed in game nine as she wrapped up the first set and that theme continued in the second set with breaks in games four and five.

It was just the performance she needed on grass ahead of her fourth appearance at Wimbledon. Last year she reached the third round before she was upset by Alize Cornet as the Frenchwoman ended her 37-match unbeaten run.

Swiatek, though, feels her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski’s experience of working with former world No 2 Aga Radwanska – who finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 2012 – is paying off.

“It’s getting easier every year to convert my clay-court style to more grass-court style,” the four-time Grand Slam winner said.

“I think it will come with experience. I have a coach who knows how to coach players who are good on grass court like Aga Radwanska, so I’m pretty positive about my future on grass.”

The top seed will take on Anna Blinkova for a place in the last four after the ninth seed beat Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-2. Italian Lucia Bronzetti caused an upset as she defeated fourth seed Mayar Sherif 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 and she will take on Varvara Gracheva – who beat Sara Errani 6-2, 7-5 – in the quarter-final.

Luidmila Samsonova remains the strong favourite to advance to the final from the bottom half as the second seed booked her place in the last eight with a three-set win over Linda Noskova.

READ MORE: Former world No 1 picks Wimbledon favourite and it’s not Iga Swiatek

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