Alright, Clay Season unfortunately ended in a very sad note, and feeling like a tragedy. But objectively, it was not that awful (even though it felt awful). She won Roma, and for most players, QF at RG is really not a disaster.
But enough of that. It's time to move on to pastures new (pun inteded), and the best part of the season starts now. This time Iga won't have a lot of expectations, and will be able to play more freely with less stress. What are your expectations and hopes?
I think given the lack of elite in form grass players (Kerber is old, so are PIronkova, Venus and Serena, Ostapenko is unreliable, Barty is still a question mark at slams, Muchova is always injured, etc etc), with a good draw she can have a decent result. It really only depends on the draw, so I won't make predictions until I see it.
Under closed roof the airing of the court is poorer and the grass becomes moisty and not dry. Have you ever been on Warsaw's National Stadium under roof? After half an hour the air becomes unbearably humid, even for the spectators, let alone the players.
I think she felt that her 2nd serve kick wont help her much here so focused hard to get those 1st serve in.
64% first serve. The fastest one was 114 mph
Iga Świątek pokonała Su-wei Hsieh 6:4, 6:4 w pierwszej rundzie Wimbledonu. W 2018 roku Polka wygrała tam turniej juniorek, ale jako seniorka rozegrała na kortach All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club dopiero drugi mecz w życiu i odniosła pierwsze zwycięstwo.
www.sport.pl
"Sierzputowskiego nie ma ze Świątek w Londynie. Z ważnych przyczyn osobistych został w kraju. Nie było go z zawodniczką również na niedawnym turnieju w Eastbourne. "
So that is why he wasn't around. It seems that due to some important personal reasons Sierzputowski had to stay in Poland for Eastbourne and Wimbledon.
I noticed that in Eastbourne only Daria was in the box. Today she was joined by Maciej.
BBC commentator announced here you can see Iga's coach Piotr Sierzputowski when in reality camera showed physio Maciej 🙃
I switch on desktop view on my mobile and popups were easier to remove
Judging Iga's chances here - 4R against Muguruza would be a great lesson on grass. But even if she managed somehow to win that one - winning back to back on grass against Muguruza and Sabalenka is not very likely this year. So my expectations:
Real - 4R vs Muguruza
Dream - winning a match against Muguruza and putting some good fight against Sabalenka in QF
If she will play like against Su Wei, than it's a win. I mean service games (that was crazy fabulus, I mean, c'mon), and coverage of a baseline, superb.
Could be a tough one.
Zvonareva was competetive against Kasatkina 5-7, 2-2 RET at Eastbourne grass R1, after easily winning Q1 & Q2 qualifying.
Then Kasatkina beats Iga in R2.
And she just beat Bouzkova who beat Hseih at Birmingham grass R1 and then reached QF.
Zvonereva is showing better form overall this year than Hseih.
I believe Iga can win comfortably though if she plays well.
Up to Iga's serve. Looks when no expectations and with free mind she can serve more consistently.
Its less about speed, more about consistency. Of course with time, as her body develops her avg 1st serve will be even faster but it is not a major factor for efficient serve on grass.
Up to Iga's serve. Looks when no expectations and with free mind she can serve more consistently.
Its less about speed, more about consistency. Of course with time, as her body develops her avg 1st serve will be even faster but it is not a major factor for efficient serve on grass.