Although Iga Swiatek doesn’t have a strong track record at Wimbledon, former ATP player Mats Wilander says the Polish player can win the event anytime she enters it.
A multi-slam winner himself, Wilander knows how difficult it is to win majors. He’s certain that Swiatek can win Wimbledon due to the way she dominates on other surfaces. Only recently, the Pole once again confirmed in Paris that she’s the best player in the world.
Outside of one match against Naomi Osaka, the Polish player dominated in all of her matches to win her fifth Grand Slam trophy overall. That sort of dominance hasn’t yet happened on grass for her, but Wilander told Eurosport that he’s certain that it can be done.
“I think Iga Swiatek will have a shot at the title at Wimbledon for pretty much every year going forward. I think she had a shot in the last couple of years. I think she’s still young enough.”
“As long as she’s winning the French Open, at some point, she probably has to look at the preparation, and she has to try to rest a little bit and don’t play too many matches or maybe none at all, and see how that goes. So far, that hasn’t quite worked out.”
“She might also be more ready this year to either play a more grass-court style of tennis or the way she plays on clay on grass but to not get frustrated when it doesn’t work.”
Swiatek has never had Wimbledon high on her priority list so far, and it’s likely not going to happen this year either, with the Olympic Games being in Paris. It will come sometime in the future as she grows more confident on the surface, and for Wilander, it’s quite clear.
“I think with Iga, I think she has to realise that she has a chance to win, even if she plays her game, not trying to change it too much, but the chances are going to be way fewer and way smaller than any other surface.”
She has to believe that she can win to win, and so far, that hasn’t been the case. If that changes, then she will certainly have a chance to win.
“You cannot go there and play your game and get frustrated along the way. You have to understand that it’s going to be frustrating because ‘grass is not my best surface – I don’t like the way I move on a grass court, I don’t like to slip, I like to slide’.”
“I think if Iga comes with the right mindset, she will win a Wimbledon. It won’t be as many titles as the French Open, it’s probably not as many as the two hard-court Grand Slams, but she will win at some point. Rafa Nadal did win it a couple of times.”
