Photo Source: Camera Sport
Wimbledon, Day 13: and then there were four: The women’s final will take place at the Championships on Saturday, and for the eighth consecutive year we’ll have a first-time champion raising the Venus Rosewater Dish.
See the full Day 13 Order of Play Here
Here’s a look inside the matchup…
[8] Iga Swiatek vs Amanda Anisimova [13]
Head-to-Head: First WTA meeting, Anisimova won their only junior meeting in 2016 Trend: Swiatek has won nine of her last ten on the grass to reach her first Wimbledon final; both Anisimova (Queen’s) and Swiatek (Bad Homburg) reached finals in the grass-court leadup. Key Stat No.1: Saturday’s winner will capture their first ever grass-court title. Key Stat No.2: Swiatek (99-20) is bidding for her 100th Grand Slam win in the final. If she is successful she would be the fastest to reach 100 major wins since Serena Williams (100-16). Key Stat No.3: Swiatek is the only active WTA player to have reached Grand Slam finals on all three surfaces. Key Stat No.4: Swiatek is 5-0 in major finals.
Iga Swiatek, grass court guru? It all seems possible for the five-time major champion this year at Wimbledon, as the Pole has come into her own on the surface to reach the final with a flurry of dominant performances – wins over Danielle Collins, Clara Tauson, Liudmila Samsonova and Belinda Bencic in the last four rounds – that put her on the cusp of her sixth major final.
Who Dictates?
Swiatek used the extra practice time after losing in the semifinals of Roland-Garros, shored up her movement and grew her confidence with a run to the final in Bad Homburg, and has hit the ground at Wimbledon. The balmy conditions, which lead to a higher bounce on the grass, have also helped Swiatek, who seems more comfortable than ever on the surface and is playing the brand of tennis that she plays on the clay – there isn’t really much difference.
Bolstered by stronger serving – perhaps her best ever at a Slam? – wicked returning and clarity of game, Swiatek has hit that groove and looks lethal at the moment.
What can Anisimova, a first-time major finalist with some of the most scorching groundstrokes in women’s tennis, do to disrupt Swiatek’s serene confidence? Smoke the ball with interest, like she did in her eyebrow-raising semifinal victory over World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka. Anisimova has one of the most menacing backhands in tennis, and her return game is, to put it mildly, disruptive. The American will have to attack Swiatek’s serve and beat her to the punch in rallies to have success.
So the tone of tennis will be determined on the service stripe. If Swiatek can manage to make a high percentage of first serve and keep Anisimova guessing, she’ll be able to dictate. Ditto for the Pole on the return. She’s returning at an almost unconscious level and that’s why she’s been in control of the run of play of her matches.
What Iga’s Saying
On whether she has surprised herself at Wimbledon this year: “Yeah, I did, for sure.”
On what she enjoys about playing on the grass: “I think there's no place to overthink here. You kind of have to follow your instincts. If that is going well and you can rely on them for sure if you feel comfortable, so this is kind of fun, in some way and different than on other surfaces where you have more time to build the rally or something.”
What Amanda’s Saying
On what it means to return from a mental health break and reach the top: “I think that's a really special message that I think I've been able to show because when I took my break, a lot of people told me that you would never make it to the top again if you take so much time away from the game.
“That was a little hard to digest because I did want to come back and still achieve a lot and win a Grand Slam one day. Just me being able to prove that you can get back to the top if you prioritize yourself. So that's been incredibly special to me. Yeah, it means a lot.”
On what inspires her about Iga: “I could say a number of things about her. I mean, her work ethic is incredible. Just the athletic ability she has, that she's clearly worked very hard for. Every time I watch her, it's really nice to see the way she's able to move out of the corners and produce such a high level of tennis.”
Pick: Swiatek in three