The “Queen of Clay” enters the quarterfinals on a peculiar note: she hasn’t lifted a single title in 2025. Clay court, hard court, none—her last trophy dates back to the 2024 French Open. But, “I feel like I’m doing a great job at learning how to play on grass. It is the first time I feel comfortable,” Iga Swiatek said after her dominant victory over Clara Tauson. And sure, comfortable she looks. 

She opened her campaign with a straight-sets win over Polina Kudermetova, but it was the second-round clash with Caty McNally that tested her nerves. After dropping the first set, Swiatek recalibrated her baseline aggression to take the next two. Then came Danielle Collins — the same player who beat her in Rome a few months ago. This time, Swiatek dictated terms, dismantling Collins 6-2, 6-3. Against Tauson, looking freer than ever, particularly on serve and in transition, two areas that had previously hindered her grass-court play, she clinched a  6–4, 6–1 victory. But next up: Liudmila Samsonova, and the test gets heavier.

Samsonova comes into Wednesday’s quarterfinals untouched. She’s dropped exactly zero sets—dominating Maya Joint with a 6‑3, 6‑2 opening round, then ousting Yuliia Starodubtseva 6‑2, 6‑1 in the second. Her 6-2, 6-3 victory over Daria Kasatkina was “bizarre”, and she closed out the fourth round 6‑4, 6‑3 against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. Besides that, Samsonova has already lifted two grass-court trophies this season (Berlin and Eastbourne), and each match she’s played at SW19 has been a display of traits that suit Centre Court’s lightning-paced turf.

But given Swiatek is now 7–1 this season at this surface and her serve is landing deeper and faster than in previous years, she enters this quarterfinal with momentum. Analysts note she’s raised her first-serve percentage to nearly 68%, and her transition game has tightened up, giving her extra punch on return games. On paper, Samsonova begins as the power player with her unbroken streak and twin grass titles, but Swiatek’s experience in pressure moments—especially in deciding sets—tips the scales.

In a match that likely reaches a third set, the Pole’s blend of serve stability, footwork, and clutch return games could make her the favorite to advance. And that would be a victory that would do far more than extend Swiatek’s Wimbledon run—it would put her within one win of a historic milestone: becoming the first Polish woman to reach the Wimbledon final after a decade. 

Iga Swiatek can create Wimbledon history for Poland after a decade

Agnieszka Radwańska was the last Polish WTA player to enter the Wimbledon final. Back in 2012, the former pro faced 23-time slam queen Serena Williams. Unfortunately, she couldn’t beat the American and missed out on the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy. Williams won that encounter with a score line of 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.

Swiatek’s already matched her best Wimbledon campaign, being in the QF stage. But she’s not one to get pleased until with it, until she gets her hands on the coveted title. Yes, it’s been a difficult tournament for her in the past. Even she’s admitted it on previous instances.

Remember what she said after losing in the third round against Yulia Putintseva in last year’s edition? “For me going from this kind of tennis where I felt like I’m playing the best tennis in my life to another surface where I kind of struggle a little bit more, it’s not easy,” reported WTA’s website in July 2024. “All that stuff really combines to me not really having a good time in Wimbledon.”

However, this time the Pole is looking completely different. Seems like she’s begun to embrace grass and adapt to it the way she prefers to, with clay. Do you think Iga Swiatek will make it to her maiden semifinal at the All England Club and eventually lift the trophy this coming weekend? Let us know in the comments below.