The Japan Times - Iga Swiatek: From queen of clay to Wimbledon champion

Swiatek thrashed American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to win the sixth Grand Slam title of her career in historic fashion on Saturday.

Against the Polish eighth seed's own expectations, she has added Wimbledon to the four French Open titles she won on the Paris clay and the 2022 US Open crown secured on hard courts in New York.

Swiatek won the junior Wimbledon title seven years ago, but she had never been beyond the quarter-finals in the main event until this year.

Asked if her success had come as a surprise, she said: "Yeah, for sure. Honestly I never even dreamt it was going to be possible for me to play in the final.

"I thought I experienced everything on the court but I didn't experience playing well on grass."

The Wimbledon title was especially sweet for Swiatek after what had been a difficult year by her high standards.

Having won at least one Grand Slam in each of the previous three years, Swiatek endured painful semi-finals exits at the Australian Open and French Open in 2025.

She did not reach a final for a year after winning the 2024 French Open.

Losing in the Olympics semi-finals last year was another blow for Swiatek, who said she cried for "six hours" following the defeat in Paris.

Then in November 2024, Swiatek tested positive for banned substance trimetazidine and was given a one-month suspension after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the result was caused by contamination.

- Blaze of glory -

Her two-year reign as world number one had been ended by Aryna Sabalenka, prompting a change of coach at the end of last year as Wim Fissette replaced Tomasz Wiktorowski.

Those woes were a stark contrast to the blaze of glory that followed her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2020 French Open.

Aged 19 and ranked 54th, Swiatek defeated Sofia Kenin in the final to become the first Polish player to win a major singles title.

Swiatek, whose father is a former rower who competed at the 1988 Olympics, was the youngest French Open women's champion since Monica Seles in 1992.

Three more titles followed at Roland Garros between 2022 and 2024 before Sabalenka ended her unbeaten streak in Paris last month.

But not winning the French Open for the first time since 2021 gave Swiatek more time to prepare on grass, firstly in a training camp in Mallorca before a maiden final on the surface in the tranquil German spa town of Bad Homburg.

Although Jessica Pegula took home the trophy in Germany, Swiatek had laid the foundations for her success at SW19.

"I feel like I have developed as a player and I had time to practise a little bit more," she said.

"I'm not going to have seasons where the pressure is kind of forced on me from the expectations from outside anymore.

"Every year it's kind of the same, but I feel sometimes I can handle it better or ignore it."

Swiatek dropped just one set on her run to glory on the manicured lawns of southwest London.

Her performance in the Centre Court sunshine on Saturday was one for the ages as she became the first player in the Open era to win a Wimbledon final without dropping a game.

T.Kobayashi--JT