When things started to look promising for Iga Swiatek, everything fell apart for her. The Pole reached the summit clash of the Bad Homburg Open after some impressive wins earlier in the tournament. Swiatek defeated the likes of Victoria Azarenka and Jasmine Paolini en route to the final. However, things never quite went her way in the summit clash against Jessica Pegula, as she suffered a brutal straight-set loss against the American, losing 6-4, 7-5. What was even surprising to see was her performance during the match and the aftermath.

The loss was Swiatek’s own making, as she committed 39 unforced errors over the course of the two sets. As a result, she could never gain the momentum to make a comeback in the match and surrendered easily against Pegula. Following the match, Swiatek went to her bench and had a heartbreaking moment, clearly showing how much the loss affected her, just days before Wimbledon is set to commence. The Pole broke down in tears, wiping them off with her towel, looking visibly devastated.

Despite the heartbreaking moment, there was some hope for Swiatek with the Wimbledon Championships coming up next week. Although she lost tamely against Pegula, her run to the final in Bad Homburg will serve as a motivation for Swiatek at the upcoming Grand Slam tournament. After the match, Swiatek mentioned, “This tournament showed that there is hope for me on grass.” Her opponent Pegula, who won her third title this season, agreed with Swiatek, saying, “I know you say you can’t play on grass, but trust me, you’re still very, very good on grass, so cut yourself some slack there.”

Even as Swiatek’s struggles on the grass are no secret, she has it in her to succeed on the big stage like Wimbledon. Even tennis legend Mats Wilander felt that the Pole could win a title at Wimbledon in her career.

Mats Wilander bullish on Iga Swiatek’s Wimbledon chances

At a time when form wasn’t on her side, Swiatek would have hoped that the draw would come out in her favor at Wimbledon. However, that’s not the case as the Pole has received a brutal draw at the upcoming major tournament. In the third round, Swiatek could face Danielle Collins while a battle against Elena Rybakina might await her if she manages to progress. Furthermore, Swiatek could face Coco Gauff as early as the quarterfinals. Despite Swiatek receiving a tough draw, Wilander felt that she could success on grass.

During an interview, he said, “I think for her, the dream might not be there where ‘I might win six or seven Wimbledons’, but she knows that the dream is alive. ‘I can win Wimbledon. I know how to play on a grass court’. But she needs to keep developing her game and she needs to realise that you’re never going to feel perfect on a grass court, not with her game. No one really does unless you hit aces and hit winners because you’re slipping and sliding. So Iga is a threat. She can win Wimbledon multiple times. I think this would be a really good year to start telling the world: ‘hey, I’m here I am okay with grass and I think I’m one of the favourites’”.

Nonetheless, Swiatek would look to emerge strongly from the heartbreak she suffered today against Pegula. It’ll be interesting to see how she turns up at the Wimbledon Championships, with her opening round against Polina Kudermetova scheduled for Tuesday.