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Iga Swiatek © Gallo Images |
Iga Swiatek is approaching Wimbledon a little differently this time around, having skipped all of the tune-up tournaments, but the top seed believes it is the best move she can make as she seeks her first Wimbledon title.
Despite her recent successes, the five-time Grand Slam champion has yet to prove herself on grasscourts, with none of her 22 singles titles coming on the surface.
Having been handed a quarterfinal defeat by wildcard Elina Svitolina last year, the 23-year-old Pole will look to improve on that when she begins her Wimbledon campaign against former world No 4 Sofia Kenin on Tuesday.
"At the beginning, for sure it was tricky," Swiatek told reporters when asked how she felt about her Wimbledon preparations on Saturday.
"I am glad I arrived here early because, for example, the grass here is very different from what we have back home.
"I felt like I was improving my rhythm and my ability to feel the ball every day. I feel good. For sure we approached this year a little bit differently basically because of the amount of matches that I played in the first part of the season."
Fresh off her fourth French Open crown, the world No 1 withdrew from the Berlin Ladies Open earlier in the month, citing overall physical and mental fatigue after an intense nine weeks.
"I could probably squeeze in one more tournament before Wimbledon, but I don't know if I would be able to physically be in a good shape till the end of the year," Swiatek added.
"You kind of have to choose what's better also for the future. I think that was a smarter decision this year. Next year we're also going to see how my results are going to look like before Roland-Garros because it all comes up to the final decision.
Swiatek, whose father Tomasz is a former Olympic rower and competed in the men's quadruple sculls at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, confirmed that she will participate in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"It means a lot... We have kind of an Olympic tradition in my family. According to her, there has only ever been one Olympic competition that is the most significant and almost always wins out over other competitions.
"As a professional, I will approach it like any other competition, sticking to my routines and giving it my all. However, it would have great significance.
Wimbledon is scheduled from July 1–14, and the Paris 2024 Olympics are scheduled from July 26–August 11.
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