Swiatek plays down the pressure as Wimbledon approaches

As Iga Swiatek navigated her way to a third Roland Garros crown, and fourth Grand Slam trophy overall, earlier this month, the 22-year-old Pole felt like “the whole world was watching” her.

Not only did she feel she had to live up to her title-favorite status on her beloved clay, Swiatek also had to fend off Aryna Sabalenka, who could have replaced her at the top of the rankings had the Belarusian matched her result in Paris, or gone one better.

It was perhaps the most pressure Swiatek had felt on the major stage and she passed the test with flying colors, dropping just one set en route to lifting the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen.

Her record at the French Open now stands at a remarkable 28-2 (93 percent) and she is 63-9 lifetime on clay at tour level.

On Monday, Swiatek begins her 64th consecutive week as the world No.1 and can approach the grass season with far less pressure on her shoulders. Despite winning the Wimbledon junior title in 2018, Swiatek confesses she has limited experience on grass, which is reflected in her modest 6-5 win-loss record on the surface in main draw matches at tour level.

Less pressure at Wimbledon?

Her entire grass-court experience on the professional tour amounts to less than half the number of victories she has collected at Roland Garros alone.

In a small roundtable interview following her triumph on Parisian clay last Saturday, Swiatek discussed her approach for the grass-court swing and Wimbledon.

“Basically before every grass-court season I just want to keep being openminded and just learn a lot,” said Swiatek, whose best Wimbledon result was a fourth-round showing in 2021.  

“I feel like there is maybe a little bit less pressure, but on the other hand when I just go on court, I feel