From the moment she first set foot on the grass this year, there has been something different about Iga Swiatek. Where once trepidation would have been her overriding emotion on what has traditionally been her weakest surface, she has looked calm from day one and on Wednesday she held her nerve to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time, holding off a bold fightback from Liudmila Samsonova to claim a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Leading by a set and 4-2, 40-0, Swiatek was cruising to victory, crunching groundstrokes, moving brilliantly and improvising impressively. However, Samsonova suddenly started going for broke and at 5-5, she had 0-30 on the Pole’s serve. But unlike on several occasions this year, Swiatek did not panic, dug deep and claimed her place in the last four, where she will play Belinda Bencic.
“Honestly it feels great,” said the No 8 seed, Swiatek. “Even though I am in the middle of the tournament I already got goosebumps after this win. I’m super-proud of myself and I’ll keep going. I am really enjoying playing this year and hopefully it’s going to last as long as possible. I really worked hard here to progress on this surface.”
By anyone else’s standards, reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open, where she had match point against the eventual champion, Madison Keys, and making the last four at the French Open would be regarded as an excellent season. But the former world No 1 has set such high standards that the only way was down. The five-time grand slam champion lost her way on her beloved clay in the spring, losing early to players she would usually brush away with ease, unravelling on court when things started to turn.
But reaching the semis in Paris restored a lot of her confidence and she arrived at Wimbledon in a relaxed, confident mood, having reached her first grass-court final at Bad Homburg in Germany. Perhaps benefitting from the drier than usual conditions here, she has dropped just one set on her way to the semis.
“I had time to practise a little bit more,” she said. “Match by match my confidence went up so that I can use it in this championship. I saw how I can play on practice courts. I was just not sure if I can do it on the match court. I kind of already did. I’m going to try to continue that.”
In her first grand slam quarter-final, the 19th seed, Samsonova, had a break point in the first game, but it was snuffed out with an ace. Swiatek held and then set about dominating the rest of the set, breaking for 4-2 and then again for 6-2, her serve effective and her groundstrokes punishing.
The match looked over when Swiatek led 4-2, 40-0 but Samsonova cut loose, slapping ground strokes for winners, forcing the issue from the baseline. After breaking back, she levelled at 4-4 and then, at 5-5, she had 0-30 on the Pole’s serve. But Swiatek found her forehand again when she needed it, whipping another return winner to seal victory.
Swiatek has won three of her four meetings with Bencic but said she was full of admiration for the Swiss, who is into the semi-finals here for the first time also, less than 15 months after giving birth to her first child.
“I can only imagine how hard it is to come back after pregnancy,” Swiatek said. “Obviously, she needed some time to play some matches and schedule it carefully after such a break. For sure she has the game to play well here on grass. I never doubted that she can’t come back after pregnancy. She seems like she’s in a good mood and she’s playing well.”
