Iga Swiatek seems to be feeling more and more comfortable on the grass of Wimbledon. The Polish player reached the quarter-finals in London on Monday at the expense of the Danish Clara Tauson, only for the second time in her career.
In recent years, Swiatek has underperformed at Wimbledon. The former world number one remained stuck in the third round at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2024. In both years, she had won Roland Garros, her favorite Grand Slam tournament, a few weeks earlier.
In 2023, Swiatek also reached the last eight at Wimbledon, which is still her best performance at the third Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Against Tauson, Swiatek recovered from a 3-1 deficit. At 5-4, she used her second set point on the Dane’s serve. In the second set, Tauson’s resistance was broken and the number 22 in the world strolled across the court. In the previous round, Tauson had caused a surprise by eliminating former champion Elena Rybakina.
‘First time really enjoying London’
The one-sided second set lasted only 31 minutes and Tauson only won eight points in it. “It’s the first time I’ve really enjoyed London. I always love the city, but as tennis players we feel good off the court when things are going well on the court,” said the 24-year-old Swiatek, the world number four, afterwards on Court 1.
“But it seems that I am increasingly starting to play my own game on grass. I hope this will continue for a while. I’ll just keep working on my game.”
In the last eight, Swiatek will meet the Russian Liudmila Samsonova, who was too strong for the Spanish Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro with 7-5, 7-5. In the bottom of the schedule, the young Mirra Andreeva is also meeting expectations. The number seven on the placement list left the American Emma Navarro with no chance at 6-2 6-3.