Iga Swiatek is making a conscious effort to keep her expectations low ahead of Wimbledon, as she bids to become the first back-to-back women's singles champion in a decade.

Not since Serena Williams won her sixth and seventh titles at SW19 in 2015 and 2016 has a player successfully defended the women's singles crown.

In fact, the last eight editions have featured eight different champions, with Swiatek routing Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in the 2025 final to claim her sixth major crown.

She became the first woman to win a grand slam final by a 6-0 6-0 scoreline since Steffi Graf at Roland-Garros in 1988, while her 35 games dropped in total at the tournament were the fewest by anyone to win the competition this century.

However, Swiatek has only played once on grass this year, losing to Emma Navarro in a three-setter at the Bad Homburg Open, while she also suffered a surprise fourth-round exit at the French Open, going down to Marta Kostyuk.

And ahead of opening her campaign at the All England Club versus Taylor Townsend on Tuesday, Swiatek is being realistic about what she could achieve. 

"I'm really in a place where I'm keeping my expectations low," she told reporters.

"At the beginning of the tournament, obviously you don't know what your level is. You need to figure it out in the first matches.

"I could progress match by match, that helped me a lot last year.

"I think, honestly, I had a lot of calm and confidence in my shots. That was the key, because many players have the game to win a grand slam."

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Reflecting on the difficulties that reigning champions have faced in general at Wimbledon, she added: "I feel like people talk about it more. 

"I think the whole vibe of becoming a member [of the All England Club] is something that you are not going to experience at other tournaments, maybe that's why it feels a bit different."

On all five of the previous occasions when Swiatek has gone into a grand slam as the defending champion, she has won her first match in straight sets, dropping an average of 3.8 games in those contests.

And throughout the Open Era, there have only been two instances of the women's singles champion falling at the first hurdle at Wimbledon the following year – Graf lost to Lori McNeil in 1994, while Marketa Vondrousova went out to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in 2024.