'A warrior, a great fighter' - Expert view on Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek's Wimbledon 2022 chances
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Updated 23/06/2022 at 06:48 GMT
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep both head to the All England Club hoping to secure another famous victory to add to their collection of titles. Eurosport's Alex Corretja has shared his views on both players' preparations as they target success at SW19 and he believes they each have a legitimate shot at going all the way in the third Grand Slam of the year.
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Eurosport expert Alex Corretja has given his verdicts on the chances of Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep having successful campaigns at Wimbledon.
Fresh from her stunning triumph at Roland-Garros, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek is the overwhelming favourite to secure back-to-back Grand Slam singles titles at SW19.
Meanwhile, 2019 Wimbledon champion Halep has endured a tough few years but is desperate to find her groove in London after having had a disappointing time in Paris.
Corretja believes that both players have everything required to go all the way at the All England Club if they can find their top form when it really matters.
"I think for Iga, the most important moment of the year was Roland-Garros," Corretja said.
"After she's been winning so many matches in a row, if you go to Paris and you don't win the tournament, then you might feel like, 'okay, I've been doing very good, but then in the Grand Slam I'm not winning'.
"That might create some issues in her mind with believing she is going to be capable of doing it. Everything now is clear. It's already an unbelievable season.
"On grass, why can she not play well there? I mean, she moves well, she hits hard, she serves well, she's aggressive.
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"Of course, sometimes you can feel maybe from the forehand side she might struggle a little bit, but after she's been winning so many matches she has got real confidence.
"She will need maybe a few matches to adjust herself, and also it will depend on the opponent she faces. If they give her rhythm, she can have what she's been missing through the grass court season so far and she's going to be motivated to keep on going.
"She's got more confidence than anyone else. But I think she should also go match-by-match and wait to see how she deals with all the movements and all the groundstrokes, which is a little bit different to clay.
"But there is no reason why Iga cannot succeed and do well at Wimbledon, honestly."
On another contender for success at Wimbledon, former champion Halep, Corretja made it clear that he regards the Romanian as a serious threat to her rivals.
"You never know what can happen with someone as good as Simona Halep because I was expecting her to do well at Roland-Garros," he said.
"It didn't happen, but maybe after that period to prepare and to get ready for Wimbledon she's fresher, and now with the experience she has, maybe it's enough to just go ahead into the tournament.
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"She needs to feel well. She needs to be hungry. If she changed coaches with Patrick Mouratoglou now, it's because she feels like she can still improve things.
"This is always nice when you're a tennis player, you like to feel that you can do different things, especially when your career goes on and on because otherwise you always do the same.
"Simona we all know is a warrior, she's a great fighter and she's going to be there. I'm sure if you see Simona Halep on your side of the draw, you don't want to play against her because you know that you will need to fight till the end, no matter if it's grass, clay or hard court.
"So I think, Simona, you always need to give her credit that she can do well."
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Watch daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and discovery+ from June 27, as well as the two singles finals live on July 9 and 10.
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