The bagel factory: A closer look at Świątek's jaw-dropping numbers
- Darren Parkin
- Jul 15
- 3 min read
Iga Świątek made history in more ways than one over the weekend, becoming the first Polish player to claim the Wimbledon crown, and did so with the most lopsided final at the venue since 1911.
114 years is as far back as you have to look to find a 6-0, 6-0 double bagel scoreline in a Wimbledon final, when Dorothy Lambert Chambers got the job done against another local in Dora Boothby.
It was just the second double bagel in a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, and the first since Steffi Graf's 6-0, 6-0 victory over Natasha Zvereva at the 1988 French Open, in the middle of her golden Slam year.
A closer look at Iga's dominance has revealed some remarkable statistics.
Świątek has won 254 Grand Slam sets in her career, and has now taken 32 of those with a score of 6-0, which equates to over 12 per cent or one in every eight sets. No other active player has a record half as good as that on strike rate.
She also has 32 Slam broomsticks or 6-1 victories, meaning 64 of 254 sets won at Slam level have come 6-0 or 6-1, which is almost exactly one quarter of sets won.
Shop with a 15% storewide discount code: SERVE15 - excludes clearance items, machines, court equipment and gift cards at www.tennisdirect.com.au
Throughout her career, she has 97 bagel sets in all.
In April of 2018, a then 16-year-old Świątek played in the qualifying rounds of the USTA Pro Circuit event in Jackson, Mississippi
The Polish ace won her first and second-round matches in the qualifying rounds of the tournament 6-0, 6-0, beating Vivian Toma in Brazil in the first-round and Alessandra Crump of the United States in the following round.
A week later, she did it again, a qualifying event with a double bagel over Mexico's Andrea Renee Villareal. She took a 6-2, 6-0 victory in her next match as well.
In terms of other notable double bagels, Świątek routed former world No.1 Karolína Plíšková in the 2021 Italian Open final, a match that went only 46 minutes, even shorter than this Wimbledon final demolition.
She double bageled Andrea Prisacariu in the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup, before doing the same to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Rome two years ago, as well Xinyu Wang at the French Open in 2023 and Anastasia Potapova at the French in 2024.
The above-mentioned strike rate of 12 per cent on bagel sets at Slams is bettered only by legends Margaret Court and Chris Evert at the highest level historically.
We haven't had a single 6-0 set in any Grand Slam final since Sloane Stephens downed Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 in the 2017 US Open decider.
At 24, Świątek now has a major on all three surfaces, the only current player in the women's draw to have done that, and the first since Ash Barty.
The Wimbledon victory was also her 100th at Slam level, at an 83 per cent strike rate, and she is the youngest player to win 100 Grand Slam matches since Martina Hingis.
Świątek has gone 243-41 in the last four years, ranking first over that period.
Grass had always been considered her Achilles heel, with no trip past the quarter-final stage at Wimbledon, and none of her previous 22 career titles coming on grass.
Her trip to the final at Bad Homburg last month was her first such appearance on grass and a precursor of what was to come.
Having dropped to No.8 in the world after not protecting clay court points, Świątek is poised to return to the top three and is within striking distance of Sabalenka's world No.1 ranking.
One of the most dominant front-runners in the sports history, and with a decade or more still in front of her, Świątek remains the benchmark for all other women to follow.
Play USA Tennis Pathways supports athletes who want to go down the college pathway, assisting players to get recruited to a college that meets their academic and athletic goals. If you are a player, parent, or coach and are interested in the college pathway in the United States, contact Lachlan Puyol at playusatennispathways@gmail.com
Comments