Iga Swiatek says that she hopes to complete a Calendar Grand Slam as soon as possible while also asserting that she is not in a rush to achieve the very difficult feat.
The Pole admitted that winning Wimbledon could be the toughest task in a bid to seal four majors of the years and she would need a couple more years to equip herself better for the grass. Swiatek won four GS titles in her young career with three of them coming in Paris in 2020, 2022 and 2023 and one in New York (2022). Her best result at the Australian Open came in 2022 where she lost to Danielle Collins in the semis.
The 22-year registered her best run at Wimbledon this year when she was beaten by Elina Svitolina in the quarters. Swiatek is a junior Wimbledon champion and has conquered her only junior GS title at the SW19 in 2018. On the back of a successful 2023 season, the WTA star is entering the Asian hardcourt swing as she will feature at the Tokyo Open this week as a top seed. #148 ranked Japanese qualifier, Mai Hontama will be her first test in the opener scheduled on Wednesday.
Speaking at the media day before the start of the event, Swiatek was quizzed about her prospect of clinching a career GS.
“Oh my god, when!? (smiling) I don’t think I can answer you specifically. Um, as soon as possible. Well for sure, I think I need a couple of more years to learn how to play on grass better. So, I’m not rushing it you know,“I’m 22, so I still have a lot of time probably, more than like 10 years. So I’m doing my best to win every tournament, every tournament I play at. But yeah, I’m not rushing it because I’ve already won four Slams.
“What I did since 2020 is crazy, it’s hard for me sometimes to even understand how it happened. Because when I was younger, I didn’t know it was going to be possible for me. So really, I’m taking it easy.”
The World #2 successfully defended her Roland Garros title this year but was upset by Jelena Ostapenko in the final 16 of the US Open earlier this month which confirmed her conceding the #1 spot to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
In an interview with Eurosport following Swiatek’s exit from Flushing Meadows, Mats Wilander explained why he suggests losing the #1 rank would be beneficial for the three-time French Open champion.
“I think this is most probably the best thing that can happen for her tennis. There’s a reason for her to start working on her game again and figuring out what happens to her when she plays against big hitters now she doesn’t have to [worry about being world No 1],” said the seven-time Grand Slam champion.
“But she’s right in the statement about defending. We turn into a bit of a negative, we talk about defending, defending points, so I think it’s time for her to step aside and work on her game a bit.”” said the four-time major titlist.