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

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