'Surreal': Świątek's maiden Wimbledon title comes in historic fashion

Iga Swiatek, Wimbledon

Iga Swiatek has won her first Wimbledon title in the most remarkable fashion. The Pole stunned American Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in under an hour to become a six-time major champion at 24 years of age.

From the outset, this final looked ominous. Before players even entered the court, there was a clear distinction in emotion.

Making the walk through the All-England Club onto Centre Court, Swiatek, headphones on, held the definition of a game face. Anisimova, in contrast, appeared more like someone trying to take in everything about the moment, understandably.

The opening point was equally telling. Anisimova shanked a backhand – the shot that had powered her into a maiden Grand Slam final – well wide. Her first of 28 unforced errors.

Swiatek, looking fiercely determined to maintain her perfect record in major finals (5-0 coming in), swiftly had the early break, to 15. And after four more backhand errors from Anisimova, she had it consolidated.

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Many players have spoken about the Iga Swiatek experience. They say it’s different from facing anyone else on tour. The intensity: it’s not something you can prepare for, and it’s definitely not something you want to learn about in a major final.

That was the scenario for Anisimova, who had never faced tour-level Swiatek; only a 15-year-old Iga in the junior Fed Cup Finals. And while I'm confident some part of that intensity was already present then, it’s clearly on another level now.

Looking to settle, Anisimova had 40-15 in her second service game. In hindsight, a chance to at least get on the scoreboard. However, more loose groundstrokes and ultimately a double fault conceded the double break. The first serve was a particular struggle. Through two games, Anisimova landed just five of seventeen, and Swiatek was pouncing on the second.

The five-time major champion held, then broke to love and held again for a 6-0 opening stanza: the 15th such start in her Slam career. Twenty-seven points to nine for the set, and yet Anisimova hit more winners. Swiatek wasn't making errors and was shifting rallies with relentless depth, but undoubtedly, Anisimova's waywardness helped her take a one-set advantage.

Swiatek, possibly the sport’s best front runner, continued to run. Breaking again to commence the second, she extinguished any minute hope of a turnaround. Eight games running to start the Wimbledon final, for a player who, prior to this event, had never reached the final four at this tennis club.

The grass has long been the challenge for Swiatek. A four-time winner at Roland Garros, a US Open champion, and a six-time WTA 1000 titlist on a hard court. But Wimbledon, and nature's carpet, had eluded her.

However, for almost her entire career, Swiatek has begun the five-week-short grass season with Roland Garros trophy celebrations.

It's a major reason why the ‘channel slam’ (Roland Garros and Wimbledon consecutively) has been incredibly difficult for almost everyone (except for this 22-year-old Spaniard who might never lose a 'Slam' match in Europe again!)

In 2025, Swiatek admittedly had more time to prepare on the natural surface, and in both her words, and her performance, she’s been feeling more comfortable than ever before.

"I’ve been enjoying just this new feeling of being a bit more comfortable on grass...there’s no place to overthink here. You kind of have to follow your instincts," Swiatek shared.

And equally, having not won Roland Garros for the first time since 2021, and coming in as the world No.8, there was a decreased sense of expectation.

“If I win Roland Garros, then I come here and everybody puts, like, super high expectations [on me]," Swiatek revealed.

"I kind of enjoyed that because expectations were a bit lower...I could really focus on getting better and developing as a player rather than everybody just asking me to win, win, and nothing is good besides winning.”

Leading 6-0, 2-0, more Anisimova unforced errors, and another double fault, handed Swiatek the double break at 3-0.

To everyone watching, this one was over, but the legends of this sport don’t blink until they convert that final point. Serving at 6-0, 3-0, 15-15, Swiatek hit an ace out wide: a routine point for 30-15. She then hit an even bigger fist pump toward no one but herself. I almost had to double-check the scoreboard. This happened right throughout the third set. So, if you’ve ever wondered how Swiatek so often closes out matches with such dominance (this being her ninth WTA title ending with a 6-0 set), that’s why.

The 24-year-old ended proceedings in 57 minutes, becoming the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win a major final without dropping a game.

“I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself,” Swiatek said post-match.

“It's pretty surreal…I’m just proud of myself because, yeah, who would have expected that?”

From leading Belinda Bencic 4-2 in the opening set of her first Wimbledon semifinal, Swiatek won 20 straight games to earn her first Wimbledon title.

She ended her 13-month-long title drought in the most remarkable manner, won her elusive first title under coach Wim Fisette, and became just the eighth woman in the open era to win a grand slam on every surface.

Six majors by 24. Now a proven contender at every Grand Slam going forward. We are witnessing an all-time great tennis player evolve before our eyes. And Iga Swiatek is so far from done yet.

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