LONDON (Reuters) -There are few benefits to losing in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam but when Iga Swiatek had her fingers prised off the French Open trophy, it had one unexpected benefit -- it lifted the pressure off her shoulders heading into Wimbledon.
Swiatek crushed Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-0 to reach the Wimbledon final on Thursday after years of trying and failing to make a major impact at the grasscourt Grand Slam.
She has made no secret of her preference for clay courts and her four French Open titles were clear evidence that Paris's red dirt was more to her liking than Wimbledon's lawns.
Yet her defeat to Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open semi-finals in early June ended her chances of a fourth straight title in Paris and ensured few were tipping her for a career-best run at Wimbledon.
"I think I'm not going to have seasons where the pressure is not going to be kind of forced on me from the expectations from the outside anymore," she said after setting up a Saturday showdown against American Amanda Anisimova.
"Every year I guess it's kind of the same but I feel sometimes I can handle it better or ignore it. Sometimes a bit worse.
"I don't know. Like, honestly, I think it's easier if you haven't won Roland Garros and also if you had more time to practise.
"If I win Roland Garros and then I come here and everybody ask me already about... They put, like, super high expectations."
Five-times Grand Slam winner Swiatek was in a league of her own on a scorching Centre Court on Thursday, blitzing past Tokyo Olympic champion Bencic in the blink of an eye.
She has dropped only one set in her run to the final and suddenly looks at home on grass, a surface she has previously struggled to master.
"Every point is different and every match I need to adjust my game but for sure I feel like I improved my movement," she said, summing up what had changed for her on the surface. "I’m serving really well and I feel really confident, so I’m just going for it and it’s working so I will keep doing that."
(Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Clare Fallon)
