It has not been the best 12 months for Iga Swiatek but the Pole is finally finding form on grass, her least favoured surface, after a 6-4, 6-1 win against the world No 22, Clara Tauson, who struggled with illness in her straight sets loss.
The win booked Swiatek’s spot in her 12th grand slam quarter-final, becoming the youngest player since Maria Sharapova in 2008 to achieve the feat.
It can be easy to forget how young the Pole is, with five grand slam titles to her name at 24 years old. But the past year has shown there is room for growth in her game, with the player admitting she has mentally struggled. She is seeded No 8 here – low for her standards – and her most recent singles title came more than a year ago, at the 2024 French Open. Her first final of this season came at the end of last month at Bad Homburg, where she lost against Jessica Pegula in straight sets.
“I’m doing a great job at learning how to play on grass,” said Swiatek. “It is the first time I feel comfortable.
“I can move well on all the surfaces. On grass I just need to change the way I stop before the ball. Tennis is not the easiest sport when we have to switch surfaces so often but that’s what makes it interesting. Obviously it’s tougher when the expectations are high and people talk like you’re underperforming.”
Tauson’s lack of serve against the world No 4 was her biggest downfall, with the player hitting only one ace to Swiatek’s four and having a lowly first-serve-points-won percentage of 64%.
The Dane said she was operating at 30% due to illness and that she realistically needed to be at “110% to beat one of the best players in the world”.
“I didn’t have any power in my legs or in my arm,” said Tauson. “Even when I was just trying to put the first serve in, I didn’t have any speed to keep it in the court.”
It was surprising given she had entered Wimbledon ranked second in the WTA for most aces served this year (223) and has served 28 aces at the tournament, the highest in the women’s singles. Her big first serves helped to bring about her first career win against a top-20 player on grass in the last round, defeating the 2022 champion, Elena Rybakina.
It was a very strange opening to the match with three straight breaks to start. Swiatek hit four double faults in her first two service games to hand Tauson, who repeatedly complained to the chair umpire the court was too slippery, the advantage. Both players proceeded to hold to love with Swiatek showing off her close net action while Tauson aimed to hit big.
After a scruffy game, Swiatek broke as the Dane’s booming forehands sailed long and then went ahead in the first set with a hold. Three more holds from the pair followed before Swiatek broke again to take the set, with Tauson beating her chest in frustration after hitting a forehand wide to hand the Pole the advantage before serving a double fault.
At the changeover after the first set, Tauson took a medical timeout, speaking exasperatedly to her coach and boyfriend, Kasper Elsvad, before failing to win a single point in Swiatek’s first service game of the second set, as the Pole hit promising slices to lead 1-0.
Tauson followed up with an important hold, with a powerful backhand slice wrongfooting her opponent. The Pole hit the fastest serve of the match at 117mph to keep her serve and she looked a lot more settled than in the first set.
In the next game, the former world No 1 looked incredibly frustrated after a close line call at her break point but she put her emotions to the side to win a stunning rally that had Tauson scrambling across the court. Another hold meant three games won in a row, sealed with two aces. She looked composed and as sure as she has been on the court in over a year, a stark comparison to Tauson, whose game was unravelling rapidly.
Swiatek broke again with a backhand winner down the line before holding serve to fly into her second quarter-final at Wimbledon, only needing an hour and five minutes to finish the match off. She will face Liudmila Samsonova, the 19th seed who is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
“She can play great,” said Swiatek on her next opponent. “We have played some tight matches. She’s a player that likes fast surfaces. She’s pretty experienced too so it’s going to be a challenge. I’ll just prepare the same way as before any other match and I’ll be ready.”
