Photo Source: Camera Sport
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday July 10, 2025
For years, Wimbledon was the puzzle that Iga Swiatek could not solve. A former junior champion, Swiatek was the sports’ most dominant clay court player, but each year, as she crossed the channel after a long clay-court season, she fell short of her ultimate goal at SW19.
Those days appear to be over.
Swiatek blitzed Belinda Bencic, 6-0, 6-2, to reach her first Wimbledon final on Thursday, the Pole improving to 17-5 as she prepares for a clash with American Amanda Anisimova in the final. “Honestly I never even dreamt that it would be possible for me to play in the final,” Swiatek said. “I’m super excited and proud of myself.
“Tennis keeps surprising me. Even though I am young, I thought I had experienced everything on the court, but I didn’t experience playing well on grass. It’s the first time – I’m just super excited and I’m enjoying it.”
It has been a long time coming for the five-time major champion. And ironic in a way that in a season that saw her go without a title on her beloved clay she could come away with the most prestigious grass-court title. Swiatek says the extra time gained from losing earlier than usual in Paris gave her extra time to prepare for Wimbledon this year. She made the most of the opportunity, focusing on her movement and not really changing her world-class baseline game all that much.
"Honestly, I think it's easier if you haven't won Roland Garros and also if you had more time to practice," she said.
Warm conditions at Wimbledon this year have also helped Swiatek. Her heavy topspin bounces higher, and the trammeled grass is less slippery. Her confidence has grown with each passing round and on Thursday she was in full flight as she took advantage of a slightly hobbled Bencic, who entered the match with a cracked toenail and had to cut a hole in her shoe to relieve the pressure on the wounded digit.
Not that she was ever going to have much luck chasing down the pace and heaviness of Swiatek’s all-out attack.
"I felt like I could put pressure on Belinda from the beginning," Swiatek told the press on Thursday. "I felt just good and in the zone. I was focused from the beginning till the end. So it was a really solid performance."
23-year-old Swiatek cracked 26 winners against 13 unforced errors, broke serve five times and won more than half of her return points as she sent first-time Wimbledon semifinalist – and last mom standing – Bencic packing in 72 minutes. Carrying a 5-0 lifetime record in Grand Slam finals, Swiatek will have experience on her side against first-time finalist Anisimova. The pair have never met at tour level, but it was Anisimova who defeated Swiatek in their lone official junior meeting in 2016.
“For sure I feel like I like my movement and I’m serving really well,” Swiatek said. “I’m feeling really confident. I’m just going for it and for sure it’s working, so I’ll keep doing that.”