Swiatek Conquers Grass And Wins First Wimbledon Title

Iga Swiatek, Wimbledon
Iga Swiatek (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 12, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

A tremendous roar of applause welcomed both five-time major champion Iga Swiatek and first-time Grand Slam finalist Amanda Anisimova as they walked out on Centre Court at the All England Club at 4 o’clock sharp British Summer Time to contest the Ladies’ Singles final of the Wimbledon Championships Saturday afternoon.

Surrounded in the Royal Box by British royalty – Princess Catherine, who sat front and center next to All England Club Chair Deborah Jevans – and by tennis royalty, including Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Conchita Martinez and Simona Halep, all former Wimbledon champions, Swiatek and Anisimova met for the first time in a WTA Tour match. It’s one Swiatek will always remember and one Anisimova would just as soon forget.

It didn’t take long for Swiatek to assert her dominance and to show why she’s tough to beat in a Grand Slam final. She won her sixth straight major title final with ruthless efficiency – and became the eighth consecutive first-time Ladies’ Singles champion at Wimbledon – with her 6-0, 6-0 victory over Anisimova in only 57 minutes. The 24-year-old Warsaw native started fast and didn’t let up.

By the conclusion, Swiatek had become the first Polish Wimbledon champion, man or woman, and now she’s a champion on all surfaces after having won the French Open four times on clay and the US Open once on a hard court. She’s just the eighth woman to win major titles on all three surfaces.

“It seems super surreal. Honestly, I didn’t even dream of this moment because it was way too far,” Swiatek said during her trophy speech. “I never really expected this one. My team believed in me more than I did., I didn’t even dream.

“There’s no tournament like this one. I was always anxious because of that. Being on Centre Court felt like huge pressure and a bit too much. But this year I learned to feel comfortable here.”

Swiatek raced to a double-break 3-0 by winning eight of the first 10 points of the match and by being the steadier player. The 23-year-old Anisimova, born in New Jersey and raised in South Florida, in her first major final, started by landing just 29 percent of her first serves in play. It’s something that would have to change if she was to have a chance at all against Swiatek. It never did.

Soon, the Polish star consolidated the break for a 4-0 advantage, then broke Anisimova at love for a 5-0 lead after connecting with a nicely-crafted, sixth-shot backhand winner. Swiatek closed out the opening set at love in only 25 minutes of play to win the set 6-0. It was Swiatek baking for the first time in a Wimbledon final.

Swiatek dominated play from first ball to last ball in a very one-sided set, in which she outscored Anisimova 27-9 and dropped just three points on her serve. The former World No. 1 took full advantage of 14 unforced errors by the American, who couldn’t seem to free herself from the weight of playing in her first major final.

As one American pundit put it after the opening set, “Stage fright not [is] not much fun to watch.”

As the second set unfolded, Swiatek broke to begin for a 1-0 lead as Anisimova committed her 17th unforced error, then consolidated the break for a 2-0 advantage with a backhand volley winner. Next, Swiatek broke again, on her third break-point opportunity of the game, to go ahead 3-0 after Anisimova struck a seventh-shot backhand into the net.

Then, Swiatek held for a 4-0 lead after hitting an ace and a forehand winner. After just 49 minutes, Swiatek had captured all 10 games contested to that point and garnered 49 of 70 points played. Then, she broke Anisimova for the sixth time – and final time – by hitting a perfect, sixth-shot backhand passing shot winner to go ahead 5-0.

Serving for the title, Swiatek set up championship point with her third ace, then lost a point with a forehand unforced error. On her second opportunity, though, she won her first Wimbledon title  – and sixth major crown overall – by hitting a pristine backhand winner that wrapped up a nicely-constructed 13-shot rally. The moment of triumph was Swiatek’s to enjoy.

Ironically, the final point produced arguably the best shot exchange of the entire amazing match. However, it was far too late for Anisimova to make a charge against Swiatek. The baker had produced a double-bagel treat.

Looking back, Swiatek rose to the occasion and remained undefeated in major finals. She did so by outpointing Anisimova 55-24. Swiatek hit 10 winners, made 11 unforced errors, won 72 percent (21 of 29) of her first-serve points, faced no break points on her serve while converting six of nine break points. Anisimova countered by winning just 29 percent (5 of 19) of her first-serve points, hit only eight winners and committed a painful 28 unforced errors.

The Wimbledon triumph also marked Swiatek’s 100th career Grand Slam match victory. She’s now 100-20 in Grand Slam main draws since making her major main-draw debut in 2019.

As Swiatek accepted the plaudits from the 15,000-strong fans that filled Centre Court, she turned to the fallen and heartbroken Anisimova and said: “I hope we’re going to play many more finals here.”

Although it wasn’t the day Anisimova dreamed of – and one that brought her to tears during the trophy ceremony – she spoke with class and grace and praised her mother, who flew in from South Florida Saturday to watch the final.

“I know I didn’t have enough today but I’m going to keep putting in the work. I’ll always believe in myself,” Anisimova said. “So, I hope to be back here again one day.”

Come Monday, Swiatek will rise to No. 3 in the PIF WTA Rankings, behind No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Coco Gauff, while Anisimova, who was ranked No. 442 after taking a seven-month career break from tennis and could not advance through the Wimbledon qualifying draw, will crack the Top 10 at No. 7 after defeating Sabalenka in the semifinals.

Cash and Glasspool make history in winning Wimbledon men’s doubles title

With their 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory over Australia’s Rinky Hijikata and David Pel of the Netherlands, Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool have become the first all-British team to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title since 1936.

The last all-British team to win a Grand Slam was Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey at Wimbledon 89 years ago. It was the only major title that Hughes and Tuckey won.

“When you say it, it sounds incredible,” Glasspool said during the trophy ceremony. “We had a Brit win last year, and the year before, so I didn’t think too much of it. We’ve given you one Brit the last couple years, now we need to give you two. So we did our best.”

The fifth-seeded Cash, 28, and Glasspool, 31, who made history by becoming the first all-British team in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final, have been lights out on grass this season. En route to their Wimbledon title, they also won grass-court titles at Queen’s Club and Eastbourne. They’ve compiled a 14-match winning streak and were also finalists at the beginning of the summer grass season at ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Earlier this season, Cash (ranked 12th) and Glasspool (ranked 10th) won a pair of outdoor hard-court tournaments at Brisbane and Doha.

In the Wimbledon final, completed in an hour and 23 minutes on Centre Court, Cash and Glasspool won were supported by an enthusiastic crowd. They combined to win 87 percent of their first-serve points, dropping just five points on their first serve. They’ve compiled hit eight winners, made just two unforced errors and converted three of seven break points. They outpointed Hijikata and Pel, who were teaming together for the first time in any tournament, 73-55.

“We’ve played a crazy amount of tennis on the grass, every match we possibly could,” Cash said during the trophy ceremony. “A lot of people were talking coming into this event, there was a lot of pressure on our shoulders. And the fact that we are able to do what everyone was talking about is surreal.”

Around the All England Club

• In their 10th career meeting, No. 4 Wang Ziying of China upset top-seeded Yui Kamiji of Japan, 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and 38 minutes on No. 3 Court. The champion overcame eight double faults to convert seven of 21 break points and outpointed Kamiji 84-75. Wang is the fourth player to win the Wimbledon women’s singles wheelchair title, after Deidre de Groot (6), Juske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot (1 each). She is the first non-Dutch player to win the women’s wheelchair title at Wimbledon.

• No. 1 seeds Niels Vink of the Netherlands and Guy Sasson of Israel won the quad wheelchair doubles title. They defeated Donald Ramphadi of South Africa and Gregory Slade of Great Britain, 6-0, 6-2, in 66 minutes on No. 3 Court. Vink and Sasson converted seven of 10 break points and outpointed their opponents 62-33.

• Martin De La Puente of Spain and Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands defeated No. 1 seeds Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid of Great Britain, 7-6 (1), 7-5, in two hours and 31 minutes on No. 1 Court. The winners converted five of nine break points and outpointed their British pair 92-77.

Saturday’s Wimbledon results

Sunday’s Wimbledon order of play

By the numbers

• Amanda Anisimova is only the second player in the Open Era to reach a women’s singles final at a Grand Slam after losing in qualifying at the previous year’s event, along with Bianca Andreescu (US Open 2019).

• Iga Swiatek is the second Polish player in the Open Era to reach the women’s or men’s singles final at Wimbledon after Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012 – and the first to win a Wimbledon singles title.

• Swiatek’s 6-0, 6-0 victory was the first shutout in the women’s final at Wimbledon since 1911.

“Quotable …”

– No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States, during her trophy ceremony remarks after losing to Iga Swiatek.

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