‘In the zone': Iga Swiatek glides past Collins to become a live contender

The Guardian

3 days ago

At least one positive consequence from Iga Swiatek's relatively poor clay court run has been the added benefit of time. Instead of arriving for the grass court season exhausted from her efforts, for once she had additional time to train, work and adapt her game to the one surface she has yet to conquer.
Swiatek's growing comfort at Wimbledon was reflected in her most efficient performance of the tournament so far as she dismantled the eternally dangerous Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3 to return to the fourth round.
Swiatek, who continues to build her profile as a title contender at the All England Club, will next face the 23rd seed Clara Tauson of Denmark. Tauson upset the 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the 11th seed, 7-6 (6), 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
'I was just in the zone,' said Swiatek. 'I knew what I wanted to play and I knew I needed to be brave and just let my hand do the job. Play fast and grab it from the beginning. You can't let Danielle play her winners. I'm really happy with the performance because there were no ups and downs, it was pretty consistent and it was a good match.'
After winning five grand slam titles, establishing herself as the most successful player of her generation and spending most of the past few years as the world No 1, the No 8 seeding next to Swiatek's name, which is reflective of her difficulties over the past year, looks very strange.
The 24-year-old has still not won a title at any level since the 2024 French Open last June and she has been open about how her perfectionism, one of her biggest strengths, has been her biggest weakness in recent months, often leading to her becoming overwhelmed by her negative thoughts on the court.
Even though she was unable to win a fourth consecutive French Open title last month, Roland Garros appeared to mark a turning point for Swiatek as she finally stopped overthinking and began to play with greater freedom again. After putting together a series of positive performances to reach the semi-finals, Swiatek left Paris after her defeat to Aryna Sabalenka feeling as if she had regained her confidence on the court.
While an exhausted Swiatek would usually prioritise rest in the aftermath of her four triumphs at Roland Garros, often returning home to Poland for a few days and then playing catch up for the rest of the grass court season, this year Swiatek headed straight to Mallorca for grass court prep.
Her run to the final Bad Homburg on the eve of the Championships, both her first final of the year and her first final on grass, represented another positive result despite her eventual defeat to Jessica Pegula. She has spent her first few matches at Wimbledon attempting to further build momentum and confidence.
'Honestly, it's much more fun this year,' said Swiatek. 'I had some practices where the ball was listening to me, which was pretty new on grass. I'm just looking for that feeling for the matches as well and today was a good day. In Bad Homburg, I played many good matches so for sure, I'm getting confidence. It's a new experience feeling good on the grass.'
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There was, of course, plenty of subtext to this match-up. Last year at the Olympic Games in Paris, the pair had an extended conversation while shaking hands at the net following Collins' retirement from their quarter-final match. Collins later revealed that she had called Swiatek 'insincere' during their handshake, the sympathy Swiatek had expressed fake. In general, Collins has made it clear that she does not care for Swiatek. In May, Collins was also responsible for one of Swiatek's worst clay-court losses in recent years as she defeated the Pole in their third-round match at the Italian Open.
This time, however, the American had no response to an excellent performance. Swiatek served brilliantly, winning 86% of points behind her first serve throughout the match. Despite holding on to only one break for most of the second set, she continued to march through her service games with ease and she did not lose her serve all match.
On her groundstrokes, Swiatek also struck her forehand brilliantly, constantly using it to dominate the baseline exchanges. She showed her increased comfort with her movement by effortlessly soaking up Collins' and forcing errors from the American with her defence.
With her spinny forehand, her preference for slower surfaces that afford her more time on the ball, her serving struggles and the general challenge of moving well on grass, there are countless reasons why Swiatek has struggled to produce her best on this surface. However, many different players and playing styles are capable of thriving on these more forgiving modern courts. Sometimes you just need time.