No end to Swiateks new-found love of Wimbledons green, green grass

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LONDON - Before this year, there was no love lost between Iga Swiatek and the grass courts of Wimbledon.

So what if it was called the spiritual home of lawn tennis?

So what if it was the tournament that tennis greats such as Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic picked out as the one they always wanted to win above any other?

She may not have uttered the words grass is for cows, as Ivan Lendl once did when he opted to skip the tournament to go on holiday, but Swiatek seemed to share that sentiment as Wimbledon was never a happy hunting ground for her.

The five-times Grand Slam champion always looked like she could not wait to escape the leafy confines of the All England Club during her five previous visits, which often followed her run to the French Open title.

It was the only major where she had failed to reach at least the last four and there was little evidence that she had the desire to improve that record -- until this year.

On Monday, the Polish eighth seed found her grasscourt wings to fly into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a soaring 6-4 6-1 victory over Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson.

Its pretty amazing, this is the first time ever Ive enjoyed London, she told the crowd who started laughing.

Sorry guys, I mean Ive always enjoyed it. I feel good on the court when I feel good off the court.

That feelgood factor was missing during her opening two service games with Danish 23rd seed Tauson on Monday as Swiatek kept misfiring her serve.

Cries of ohh rang around Court One as