Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Sports
Home / Sports / Tennis

No end to Swiatek's newfound love of green, green grass

Updated: 2025-07-09 09:56
Share
Share - WeChat
Poland's Iga Swiatek plays a forehand return to Denmark's Clara Tauson during their Wimbledon fourth-round match at Wimbledon in London on Monday. AFP

Before this year, there was no love lost between Iga Swiatek and the grass courts of Wimbledon.

So what if it was called the spiritual home of lawn tennis?

So what if it was the tournament that tennis greats such as Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic picked out as the one they always wanted to win above any other?

She may not have uttered the words "grass is for cows", as Ivan Lendl once did when he opted to skip the tournament to go on holiday, but Swiatek seemed to share that sentiment, as Wimbledon was never a happy hunting ground for her.

The five-time Grand Slam champion always looked like she could not wait to escape the leafy confines of the All England Club during her five previous visits, which often followed her run to the French Open title.

It was the only major where she had failed to reach at least the last four, and there was little evidence that she had the desire to improve that record — until this year.

On Monday, the Polish eighth seed found her grasscourt feet to swagger into the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Dane Clara Tauson.

"It's pretty amazing. This is the first time ever I've enjoyed London," she told the crowd who started laughing.

"Sorry guys, I mean I've always enjoyed it. I feel good off the court when I feel good on the court."

That feel-good factor was missing during her opening two service games with the Danish 23rd seed on Monday, as Swiatek kept misfiring her serve.

Cries of "ohh" rang around Court One as she opened her account with two double faults en route to dropping her serve to love.

When she produced another two successive double faults to drop her serve again in the third game, the gasps grew louder and Tauson must have thought it was game-on for another Grand Slam champion's scalp, following her success over 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina two days ago.

But, from 3-1 down in the first set, and fueled by her favorite Wimbledon diet of pasta tossed with strawberries and yogurt, Swiatek sprinted away with eight of the last nine games.

After extending her perfect record against Danish opponents to 4-0, she delved deeper into what had clicked for her on grass.

"I felt this year that I could really develop as a player. I'm doing the job, no matter what the results are going to be," said the Pole, who will next face Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

"I feel like I'm doing a great job at just learning how to play on grass. First time I feel, like, more comfortable. I feel like the process has some kind of logic.

"It's tough when the expectations are high and people talk to you like you're underperforming. I guess this year is just different."

The transition from clay to grass has not been easy for Swiatek, who has had to get out of her comfort zone to come up with a winning formula.

While she has mastered the art of sliding across clay, tennis' slowest surface, in order to conjure up shots that are beyond the capability of most of her rivals, she has had to abandon that maneuver on the slicker turf courts.

"I've been watching Carlos (Alcaraz) a little bit, and Novak (Djokovic). I see them slide (on grass).Obviously it's possible, but you just need to kind of trust it," she said.

"Since I never played so many matches on grass as this year, I've never had time to really trust it."

But, at least she now has faith that she can do well on grass, especially as she has a great chance to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time, given her 4-0 record over Samsonova.

Just in case any doubts lingered about Swiatek's chances of finally lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish come Saturday, Tauson said: "She's probably impossible to beat."

Reuters

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 一本一本久久a久久精品综合麻豆 一本一本久久a久久精品综合麻豆 | 99热精品久久只有精品| 清冷受被放置play分腿器| 国产内射999视频一区| 中文乱码字幕午夜无线观看| 精品一区二区三区无码视频| 在线免费小视频| 亚洲伊人tv综合网色| 黄色大片视频网站| 在线观看欧洲成人免费视频| 亚洲视频免费看| 四虎国产永久免费久久| 无遮掩60分钟从头啪到尾| 冠希与阿娇实干13分钟视频 | 樱花草视频www| 人人妻人人澡人人爽曰本| 久久福利资源网站免费看| 撅起小屁股扒开调教bl| 亚洲黄色高清视频| 色婷婷综合久久久| 在体育课被老师做了一节课视频| 久久88色综合色鬼| 极品性放荡的校花小说| 亚洲福利在线看| 精品久久久久久国产牛牛app| 国产精品多p对白交换绿帽| 久久久亚洲欧洲日产国码农村| 欧美激情一区二区三区成人| 制服丝袜怡红院| poren黑人| 性色欲情网站iwww| 亚洲国产成人久久精品app| 老阿姨哔哩哔哩b站肉片茄子芒果 老阿姨哔哩哔哩b站肉片茄子芒果 | 精品国产日韩亚洲一区在线| 国产综合久久久久鬼色| 久久久久99精品成人片试看| 激情偷乱人伦小说视频在线 | 狠狠色综合网站久久久久久久| 四虎成人精品在永久在线| 91丁香亚洲综合社区| 妞干网在线免费观看|