Wimbledon: 'We never saw with Rafael Nadal' - Key for Iga Swiatek to triumph at Grand Slam, explains legend
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Published 28/06/2024 at 09:33 GMT
Eurosport expert Mats Wilander has highlighted the approach Iga Swiatek should have in order to triumph at Wimbledon, and compared this mindset to the one he said Rafael Nadal has always had at the All England Club. Swiatek has yet to clinch a title at the grass-court Grand Slam, but Wilander believes she is more than capable of doing so with the right strategy for the tournament.
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Iga Swiatek has "a shot at the title at Wimbledon", but she should consider the way Rafael Nadal has always approached the grass-court tournament, according to Mats Wilander.
The 23-year-old's best performance so far at the All England Club was reaching the quarter-finals last year, and she will be looking to perform considerably better this time.
Wilander looked to the approach taken by Nadal - who triumphed at SW19 in 2008 and 2010 - as a guide for how Swiatek could choose to take on the third Grand Slam of the season, which gets underway on Monday.
"I think Iga Swiatek will have a shot at the title at Wimbledon for pretty much every year going forward," he told Eurosport's Arnold Montgault. "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.
"I think what we've seen with her, and what we never saw with Nadal, is Rafa Nadal wasn't changing his game that much on a grass court. He realised that the chances of winning were way smaller at Wimbledon, but I still believe 'I have a chance to win'.
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"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.
"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."
Wilander acknowledged Swiatek may find it difficult to fully focus on Wimbledon with the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games to consider - particularly given it will be on her favourite surface, the red clay of Roland-Garros.
"I think Iga is going to be fully committed pretty much every time she gets on a tennis court, whatever tournament she plays," he said. "I think what she has to do is be committed to playing her way of tennis, which is hitting a forehand that has more spin than any other player on tour, that Rafa Nadal proved to everybody was a weapon.
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"She has to bring that play on every surface, understanding that there's less chance that she wins Wimbledon than the Olympics. It doesn't mean she's less committed to playing on grass or Wimbledon. It again has to be that day-to-day situation.
"I think Iga is going to be able to handle the Olympics very, very easily because the natural surface for her is clay, and she's going to have an easier time getting used to it.
"Just like Rafa Nadal got used to clay courts at the French Open a few years back when it was played in September. Well, that came right after the hard-court season, and he just went back to the clay-court style that he played in May the year before, and he won the French Open in September. It was just a different month, but the same surface."
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