Iga Swiatek has ‘a little bit of Steffi Graf’s on-court aura’, says former British No 1

Iga Swiatek has the same intensity on the tennis court that Steffi Graf used to display during her heyday with former British No 1 Annabel Croft saying she gives off “I’m in control, I’m setting the tone” signals.

World No 1 Swiatek is unbeaten in her last 19 matches as she has won consecutive titles at the Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open.

She took her Grand Slam trophies to five last week when she defeated Jasmine Paolini in the final at Roland Garros to finish the clay-court season with a 21-1 record with Elena Rybakina the only player to beat her.

The Pole, though, has waved her favourite clay goodbye for now as the attention has shifted to the grass-court campaign and her record is not as impressive on the surface.

Whereas she has an 89% winning record on the red dirt, she has won only 68% of her matches on grass with a 7-1 record on the surface last year as she reached the semi-final in Bad Homberg before withdrawing while she was beaten in the quarter-final at Wimbledon by Elina Svitolina.

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There are high hopes from Swiatek that things will eventually click on grass, but Croft believes the Pole has to make a few adjustments to her game.

“Her ball doesn’t do as much damage on the grass,” she told Sky Sports Tennis. “She finds it’s very tricky and I think with the grip she has on the forehand side, she’s quite round on the forehand and when players keep the ball low and slice it down on the grass court it’s very difficult for her to get that rolling forehand.

“She likes the ball up high in between hip and shoulder height.”

Croft, though, is impressed by Swiatek’s on-court demeanour, saying it is reminiscent of how the 22-time Grand Slam winner Graf used to conduct herself when playing.

She added: “When she walks on court, the pace that she sets not only when she’s hitting the ball, but the marching in between points and the kind of body language she’s putting out, she’s coming at you with everything.

“Everything is targeted and she’s giving off these signals that ‘I’m in control, I’m setting the tone, I’m setting the pace for this match’. It’s very difficult for any player to keep up with her.

“She does remind me a little bit of Steffi Graf when she was at her height people used to say she was like carrying a briefcase around the court with her the way that she was marching in between points, and the way [she was] setting the tone, big forehand winners and hitting winners left, right and centre and there’s a lot about the way that she had that intensity on the court.

“It’s what Swiatek brings to the match court.”

Swiatek was initially set to play one warm-up tournament before Wimbledon, but she withdrew from the WTA 500 Berlin Open as she needed more time to recover after her French Open run.