Iga Swiatek has already surprised herself this grass court season. With a straight sets win over Jasmine Paolini in the Bad Homburg semi-finals, she advanced to her first WTA-level final on the surface.

“It was, for sure, something that I wasn’t expecting,” a smiling Swiatek admitted to media at the All England Club of her victory over the 2024 Wimbledon ladies’ finalist.

“It gave me a lot of confidence. Obviously it’s tennis, so every day is different, but I felt like I’m playing great. I really pushed Jasmine the way I wanted to.”

While Swiatek’s best tournament appearance so far this season ended with a straight-sets loss to Jessica Pegula in the final, there were many positive takeaways ahead of a sixth main draw campaign at Wimbledon.

“For sure, probably so far it’s the best one that I’ve had,” she said. “I had a really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Also having more time to practise before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a few more skills.”

The confidence boost was timely for Swiatek, who contested her first final since her victory at Roland-Garros last year.

It marked a far different course to the past three Wimbledon campaigns, when Swiatek arrived in SW19 as the champion of the clay court Grand Slam.

In Paris this year, Swiatek exited to Aryna Sabalenka in a three-set semi-final – leaving some to ponder whether a silver lining for the 24-year-old is feeling fresher overall on grass this season, given the flurry of attention that follows a major triumph.

“I mean, honestly, the obligations (after winning the title) are basically after the match and the day after,” she countered. “You just need to do a photo shoot, so I wouldn’t say it’s super tiring for someone who already won some tournaments and has had the experience.

“So I wouldn’t say that’s changing anything, but for sure I had two more days to practise on grass.”

Swiatek, a former world No.1 who is the No.8 seed here, has clearly used that time wisely.

Following her Roland-Garros exit, Poland’s top player spent time practising in Mallorca, where she focused on her grass court movement and, as she explained, “stepping to the ball a little differently than on clay”.

“It helped,” said Swiatek, on why grass now feels like a slightly different prospect. “I wouldn’t say now suddenly everything is perfect because it’s still a difficult surface. It’s still tricky.

“Just having more years of experience, because every year it feels like it’s a little bit easier to get used to the surface, and then you have more time to just develop as a player.”

Not that Swiatek, a quarter-finalist in 2023, is lacking in accomplishments in SW19.

At 17 years old in 2018, she lifted the Wimbledon girls’ trophy – providing both the confidence and hunger to replicate that success at a higher level.

“It feels like it was in a different lifetime, you know? It was probably the highlight of my career back then. I remember winning. It felt pretty surreal,” Swiatek smiled when asked to recall that experience.

“I remember I thought my life is going to be perfect now. I was a bit disappointed. It was still the same, and I still had to get back to work.

“But for sure it gave me... I remember having a lot of hope and the feeling that maybe if it was possible now, it’s also going to be possible in the future at the pro level.”