"Iga Swiatek can win Wimbledon multiple times" - Mats Wilander

In her record-breaking young career, Iga Swiatek has mastered the clay and the hard courts, but the grass seems to allude to the Pole. However, former Swedish tennis legend Mats Wilander thinks Swiatek has the potential to conquer the Wimbledon Championships.

Wilander believes that while Swiatek might not achieve the level of success on the grass courts as she has seen on the clay and the hard courts, she does have the potential to lift multiple Wimbledon titles.

“She's going to learn how to play better on it. Is she ever going to be a better grass court player than a clay court player? No. Is she going to be a better grass court player than a hard court player? Most probably not. That doesn't mean she can't win the tournament," Wilander said in an interview with Eurosport.

“So, I think for her, the dream might not be there where ‘I might win six or seven Wimbledons’, but she knows that the dream is alive. ‘I can win Wimbledon. I know how to play on a grass court," he added.

Mats Wilander also thinks that Swiatek has accepted that grass is not her most comfortable surface, and she has to learn to adjust her game to find any success at grass court tournaments.

"I think Iga is most probably past that feeling where ‘I hope and I wish that I'm going to be a great grass court player, that I feel comfortable playing on this surface," Wilander stated. "And I think she's already found out that, no, she's not going to feel comfortable playing on a grass court."

“No one really does unless you hit aces and hit winners because you're slipping and sliding. So Iga is a threat. She can Wimbledon multiple times," he added further.

Iga Swiatek herself has talked about difficulties in playing on grass. The 22-year-old recently said that she is "uncomfortable" on the surface and goes into every grass tournament with an "open mind."

“Basically before every grass-court season I just want to keep being open-minded and just learn a lot," Swiatek said. "But I’m pretty sure that still when I’m going to play these matches, I’m going to feel a little bit uncomfortable. But I also trust that every year I’m going to learn more and more and I’m going to progress anyway."

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Iga Swiatek begins her 2023 grass season at Bad Homburg

Iga Swiatek.

Before entering the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, Iga Swiatek kicked off her grass swing of the WTA Tour at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany. The World No. 1 won her opening-round match against German veteran and 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.

Swiatek's second-round opponent is qualifier Jil Teichmann of Switzerland.

The Pole's decision to compete in Germany seems sensible as she has failed to progress past the fourth round at the Wimbledon Championships and has not put together any remarkable results on the grass court.

At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, Iga Swiatek lost to experienced French player Alize Cornet in the third round. This loss also ended her incredible 37-match winning streak that began at the 2022 Qatar Open in February.