Swiatek Swipes Victory in Wimbledon Finals

Photo: Wimbledon

An insight into Iga Świątek and her journey to becoming 2025 Wimbledon women’s champion.

2025 is shaping up to be a great year for sportswomen in Poland, with not only their first women’s Euros qualification, but also their first female Wimbledon champion.

In fact, Iga Świątek is the first Polish man or woman to win Wimbledon in the Open Era, and the first to win a grand slam final with a ‘double bagel’ (6-0, 6-0) since 1988. But it’s not been all smooth sailing for the Polish champ, whose commitment to bettering her weaknesses should not go overlooked.

Background

Iga Świątek was born in 2001, as the daughter of a former Olympic rower and with one older sister. The siblings were both encouraged to play sports, and Świątek originally claimed that she became good at tennis just to beat her sister. In 2016 she won her first professional tournament in Stockholm and trained at two prestigious tennis clubs in Warsaw.

In 2019 Świątek made it into the top 100 ranked female tennis players, placing at number 88. Her career grew from here, and in 2020 Świątek was chosen as the World Tennis Association’s Most Improved and Fan Favourite Player.

Age 19, Świątek won her first grand slam at Paris’ Roland Garros tournament. Since then, she has won this competition three more times and has also claimed victory at the US Open in 2022.

A Change of Tack

Despite her former number 1 world ranking, critics remained doubtful about the 24-year-olds chances at Wimbledon this year. Świątek’s grand slam victories, though many, had all been on clay or hard courts. This is a vastly different surface to the lush grass of SW19.

Due to this, Świątek’s coach, Wim Fissette, decided to focus training on this grass pitch. Fissette found methods to adapt Świątek’s powerful playing style to the unpredictability and dulling quality of grass. This included working on the accuracy of her serving and getting more power behind her forehand.

Świątek also worked closely with sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz, to ensure that she was in the correct mindset to win the tournament.

Wimbledon

All that tactical training certainly paid off, as Świątek hit the courts of Wimbledon with a surefire surge of powerful shots. There was evident force, especially in her serves, which beat many an opponent before they had the chance to return them.

Nicknamed ‘Iga’s bakery’ the young pole breezed through multiple competition stages with her signature bagels (a 6-0 scoreline) and breadsticks (a 6-1 scoreline). She beat the likes of 23 seeded Clara Tauson and 19 seeded Liudmila Samsonova to win her a place in the Wimbledon final.

In the final Świątek faced American Amanda Anisimova, who had made it to a grand slam final for the first time in her career. Unfortunately for Anisimova, the pressure became too much, and her usual game was thrown off, allowing Świątek to win the match in two straight sets.

What Next?

So, what next? Well, Iga Świątek has now won three out of the big four tennis grand slams, with the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon under her belt. Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising if the 24-year-old turns her efforts towards the hard courts of the Australian Open next.

But for now, Świątek says that she is ‘trying to soak everything in and just enjoy it’, to be ‘happy with this one for now’ and appreciate her success as a reward for her tireless training.