Successful tennis professionals often take a detour on their Grand Slam tournament trip from Paris to London. In order to hook up the sandplace season in Roland Garros and gradually adjust to the classic lawn in Wimbledon, the people who can afford are first drawn to one or the other island. Carlos Alcaraz, who triumphed in Paris for the second time in Paris for the second time, flew to Ibiza as in the previous year and went well there without taking the tennis racket in his hands.
The training pays off
After she had left in Paris in the semi -finals and had not been able to defend her title successfully, the Polish wanted to get the transition from the red bruise to lawn as early as possible. Unlike many of her colleagues, however, Swiatek did not fall into the tournament, but did gradually: only train extensively in Mallorca, then use the Bad Homburg Open as the only preparation tournament on Wimbledon.
The change of the covering was a challenge, said Swiatek in Bad Homburg: “You come from an underground on which the ball jumps up the highest after the impact, to one where it jumps very flat.” In the difference, she quickly got used to this year, the training has apparently paid off: the former world ranking listen on Thursday afternoon after the 6: 4-7: 6 (7: 5) quarter-finals against the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrowa moved into the semi-finals of the WTA tournament. There she meets Italian Jasmine Paolini this Friday, who previously defeated Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 7: 5, 7: 5.
Iga Swiatek has achieved a lot in her not long professional career. She won four of the past six French Open editions and the US Open in 2022. She won a total of 22 profit titles and was at the top of the world rankings for 125 weeks, for the last time on October 20 of last year. The opening win in Bad Homburg was her 300th success on the tour at 372 matches – only ten players achieved this brand earlier. What the Polish is missing is a success as a professional on lawn. She was closest to Bad Homburg two years ago, but fell ill before the semi -finals. A week and a half later she reached her best Wimbledon result with the quarter-finals.
Better calm than hype
Iga Swiatek plays strategically and with a lot of spin, making it the best clay court player. But on lawn that makes the balls jump flatter and faster, it is difficult. The movements were the biggest challenge for them, said Swiatek in Bad Homburg: “I can’t slip much, so we are working a lot on how to stop after the blows.”
For a few months now she has known a great specialist at her side in Wim Fissette. The Belgian led Angelique Kerber to the Wimbledon title in 2018-in the same year in which Swiatek won the junior competition there. “The transition from sand to lawn is a bit easier every year,” said the twenty -four -year -old and attributed this to her experience.
Life is made easy for her in Bad Homburg. Swiatek is not looking for the hype, but the calm. She prefers to withdraw to her hotel room with a book. From time to time the bookworm also goes out the door without a tennis match being set. “The atmosphere is great. Having the park next to the Center Court and the hotel nearby is very pleasant.” If, unlike 2023, she will remain healthy, she may round off the amenities of the Taunusstadt with her first trophy at a lawn tournament.
