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Dominant Swiatek cruises to first Wimbledon title with win over Anisimova
“Who would have expected that?”
Iga Swiatek’s Wimbledon victory defied expectations, including her own.
The 24-year-old’s two-year reign as world number one, which ended after Aryna Sabalenka took the top spot last year, was largely built on her dominance on clay courts and consistency on hard courts.
Swiatek earned the moniker ‘Queen of Clay’ after securing four French Open titles in five years, alongside a US Open victory in 2022.
However, she now departs Wimbledon as the champion, following an astonishing 6-0, 6-0 victory in just 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova in Saturday’s final.
This marks not only Swiatek’s first Wimbledon title but also her first Tour-level title on grass, despite a prior victory in the girls’ competition at SW19.
As Swiatek remarked upon entering her post-match press conference, it was an unexpected triumph.
“This one and the US Open for sure feel better because no-one expected that,” Swiatek said.
“It wasn’t a relief. It was more of just good tennis and working to make it happen without this baggage on your shoulders.
“It’s something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself.”
Swiatek inflicts 6-0 6-0 defeat on Anisimova to win Wimbledon
All analysis & reaction as Swiatek beats Anisimova in 57 minutes to win Wimbledon
The victory is particularly surprising considering Swiatek’s performance over the past year has been inconsistent.
After her 2024 French Open win, she did not reach another final for a year, which caused her to slip to eighth in the world, her lowest ranking since March 2022.
Swiatek’s dip in form stemmed from a combination of factors both on and off the court.
A bitter blow was losing in the Olympic semi-finals in Paris last summer, leading Swiatek to admit she cried for “six hours” afterwards.
In November, it was revealed that Swiatek had tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample. She received a one-month ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed the result was due to contamination.
Further issues arose at the start of this year.
“Honestly, I needed a couple of months to get back on a proper path. It wasn’t easy,” Swiatek told BBC Sport.
Former Grand Slam semi-finalist Andrea Petkovic was one person who foresaw Swiatek’s Wimbledon triumph.
Petkovic noticed a “new freshness” in Swiatek during the grass-court tournament in Bad Homburg. For what the German described as “irrational reasons”, she also predicted Swiatek would win Wimbledon.
During Swiatek’s semi-final match against Jasmine Paolini at the WTA event, Petkovic noticed a large bird circling above Swiatek for around 10 minutes.
When the players changed ends, the bird followed Swiatek to the other side of the court, which Petkovic took as an omen.
“I said there and then she’s going to win Wimbledon,” Petkovic told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“For most of this year you could sense pressure and tension when she stepped on court.
“In Bad Homburg you could see that was gone.”
Before this year, Swiatek had only reached the second week of Wimbledon once, when she made it to the quarter-finals in 2023.
After a shock third-round defeat by Yulia Putintseva last year, Swiatek mentioned that she had not allowed herself enough time to mentally recover from her French Open win a few weeks earlier.
After losing to Sabalenka in the Roland Garros semi-finals this year, Swiatek went to Mallorca for a week of grass training before returning to competitive action in Bad Homburg.
Swiatek reached the final in Germany, where she lost to Jessica Pegula and was left in tears. However, it was an indication that her level on the surface had improved.
“I feel like I have developed as a player and I had time to practise a little bit more [this year],” said Swiatek.
“I would say we mainly focused on my movement and how I should stop before hitting the ball.
“Also, [we worked] on fast hands because obviously it’s important here not to stop the movement, even though the ball sometimes is fast.”
Wim Fissette has coached multiple WTA players to Grand Slam titles, including Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon in 2018.
Swiatek replaced long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with Wim Fissette late last year, and it has taken time for the changes she was making to take effect.
“When you make a big change and hire a new coach, it takes a while to see the changes,” said former world number nine Petkovic.
“You feel you’re progressing and you’re expecting to see results right away. But it doesn’t happen right away.”
Swiatek’s serve is one area which Fissette has focused on.
The Pole won 79% of her first-serve points at Wimbledon, which was the joint-second highest in the women’s singles.
After the Wimbledon final, Swiatek said her serving was the best it has been in the entire grass-court swing.
“I think she got a bit hectic at the start of the season. Now something is different and she has a bit more patience with herself,” said Petkovic.
“I think she’s also forgiving herself a bit more if she makes a few unforced errors on the grass.”
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