Polish tennis player is probably registering in the second round of Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Shortly after Iga Swiatek completed the most lopsided French Open final in 17 years, ceding a grand total of three games against an overmatched opponent to claim a third consecutive title in Paris, she was asked whether that represented a perfect performance.

Swiatek’s mind immediately went to what little went wrong in Court Philippe Chatrier that afternoon.

“Obviously, I mean, I got broken at the beginning,” she said, “so it wasn’t maybe perfect.”

A few minutes later, Swiatek used the word “perfectionist” to describe herself, perhaps offering some insight as to how she is approaching Wimbledon, the grass-court major that begins Monday — and the only Grand Slam tournament where she hasn’t been past the quarterfinals.

“Overall, tennis is different on grass,” said Swiatek, who was a junior champion at the All England Club in 2018. “I’ll just see and I’ll work hard to play better there.”

The 23-year-old from Poland has won four of the past five trophies on the red clay at Roland Garros, capped by a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Jasmine Paolini for the championship on June 8.

How does a player beat Swiatek on clay?

“It’s hard. You have to err very little. Match her intensity. Play deep shots. Try to be aggressive whenever there’s an easier ball,” said Paolini, who is now ranked in the top 10 but hardly looked that caliber in the final. “But it’s not easy. It wasn’t for me, and it’s a challenge that is the most difficult thing in women’s tennis at the moment. How to do it? I don’t know.”

Swiatek also was the 2022 champion at the hard-court U.S. Open and made it to the Australian Open semifinals on that surface earlier that season. But she is just 9-4 on the grass of the All England Club, by far her worst winning percentage at a Slam.