Iga Swiatek believes she is capable of pulling off a Rafael Nadal and winning on all surfaces so she ends one for all the narrative that she is only clay-dominant.
As you probably know, the Pole’s first Grand Slam title came at the 2020 French Open – and now at the age of 23 – she is a four-time winner at Roland Garros.
As it stands now, the current world No. 2 will easily break Chris Evert’s all-time record of seven French Open titles.
Iga Swiatek© YouTube screenshot
But outside the Parisian Slam, Swiatek has only had one triumph – she made it all the way at the 2022 US Open.
At the Australian Open, the Polish tennis star is a two-time semifinalist while Wimbledon remains the only Slam where she hasn’t made it past the quarterfinal stage.
Every time the 23-year-old fails to land a Grand Slam outside the French Open, her critics and doubters use that as an argument for their claim that she can’t win outside clay.
Swiatek: It was the same with Nadal… I have my weapons
“It was the same with Rafa. Everybody always talked about clay, but like he’s the GOAT (greatest of all time) basically on every surface,” the five-time Major winner told The Athletic.
“Also winning Wimbledon twice. Not every player can have these results on even one surface.
“This is something that people are focusing on, and I am talking about this as well, because clay is where I have the most fun, but I love hard courts as well.
“And I feel like I have my weapons and I can use them. I want to be an all surface player for sure.”
During his career, 14 of Nadal’s 22 Slams came at the French Open – triumphed at the US Open four times and won each Wimbledon and the US Open twice.
Meanwhile, Swiatek actually has more titles on hard (12) than on clay (10).
For this year, one of the more interesting things will be to see if the Pole can finally win her first title on grass and potentially make her first big Wimbledon breakthrough.
Tennis World USA