Iga Swiatek is rarely the most bullish of people, but it was striking how hesitant she sounded on the eve of her Wimbledon title defence. The Pole had stunned many, including herself, by her romp to the crown last year, on what had long been considered her worst surface.
But the issues that have seeped into her game over the last couple of seasons - the mental fragility, the serving yips - weren’t solved by that triumph, and they certainly haven’t been after another indifferent first half of this year.
