In a few days’ time, Iga Swiatek will embark on a daunting challenge that many Grand Slam champions have faced, but only great ones have mastered: back-to-back wins at the French Open and Wimbledon, aka a “Channel Slam.”
With five Grand Slam titles under her belt, an active 19-match win streak, and a finely balanced all-around game, 23-year old Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek has stoked hopes that she might become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to earn a Channel Slam. The feat is within reach of any player who wins in Paris, but one which very few grasp.
Among those it has eluded are: Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Ashleigh Barty.
A Channel Slam requires superb versatility and remarkable physical and mental stamina—so much so that in the pro era, only seven women have accomplished it, and even fewer (5) men. Only two men did it more than once (Nadal and Bjorn Borg), while five women completed two Channel Slams.
For sure it’s a huge challenge. If I would lose here earlier, maybe I would be able to play two more weeks on grass and then be a better grass-court player. But if I [have to] choose, I love playing on clay. So, I’m not going to give up that. Ever.
Those are the stakes for Swiatek, who used an improved grass-court game to make up for the lack of preparation time for Wimbledon last year to battle into the quarterfinals. She was then beaten in three high-quality sets by a resurgent Elina Svitolina.
“Last year’s result was pretty nice,” Swiatek said of that run during the clay swing this year. “I feel like every year it’s easier for me to adapt to grass.”
Yet some were puzzled when, just days after claiming her third consecutive Roland Garros title a few weeks ago, Swiatek pulled out of the WTA grass-court event in Berlin. In a statement, she put the reason down as “overall physical and mental fatigue after an intense nine weeks [on clay].” Swiatek will play Wimbledon cold, with no official matches on grass to adapt on the surface where she’s enjoyed relatively little success
Swiatek’s career record on grass is an anemic 16-7,but she’s a whopping 124-17 on clay, including 35-2 at the French Open. Those numbers are Nadalesque, and this is a propitious moment for her to feel inspired by the King of Clay. Is it a good omen for Swiatek that Nadal also had four major titles (all collected at Roland Garros) when he punched through in 2008 to record the first of his two Channel Slams?
It may be a little premature to declare Swiatek the Queen of Clay, but with three consecutive RG titles she’s at least the Duchess of Dirt. She knows what a Wimbledon title would do for her status, but she isn’t getting ahead of her skis. Nor does she want to disparage the surface she loves.
“For sure it’s a huge challenge,” Swiatek told reporters, referring to Wimbledon, after she won this year in Paris. “If I would lose here earlier, maybe I would be able to play two more weeks on grass and then be a better grass-court player. But if I [have to] choose, I love playing on clay. So, I’m not going to give up that. Ever.”
Swiatek doesn’t need to alter her game in order to win Wimbledon. It has already earned her a US Open title and other honors on hard courts. There’s a tendency to look at success on grass or clay as a binary proposition, but that’s not true. Nadal and Borg both were radical stylists early in their careers, typecast—with plenty of justification—as “clay-court specialists.” Many felt that their games would never read well on turf.
Nothing in Swiatek’s game, or even in her stated preference for clay, has led anyone to pigeonhole her in a similar way so she is already ahead of the game. Her strengths transcend issues of technique, tactics and strategy.
As Jasmine Paolini said after losing the French Open final to Swiatek:
She’s taking the balls early, taking time [away from] you, but also using rotation (topspin). She can defend really, really well. . . this was my first time facing a player that is taking [away] time as much as she does, but also hitting winners and being close on [inside] the court.