History at the All England: After five Grand Slam titles, Iga Swionetek finally broke the grass court barrier tonight (Saturday) with her first career win, and a particularly crazy one, at the Wimbledon tournament. The Pole defeated Amanda Anisimova (12th in the world) in the final 6:0, 6:0 ("double bagel"), the first in history in the open era at the All England, and the second since 1911. The last time a similar victory was recorded at any women's Grand Slam was in 1988, in the final of Roland Garros by Steffi Graf.
The victory, achieved after just 57 minutes, equals Swiatek (4th in the world) a sixth Grand Slam title of her career - and first since Roland Garros 2024. The Pole also became the eighth winner of the title in the last eight years. Anisimova, who qualified for the first time in a Grand Slam final and ended the match in heartbreaking tears, will take solace in the fact that this coming Monday she will enter the world top ten for the first time in her career.
Lost only one set in the tournament en route to the title. Swietok (Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Anisimova struggles to hold back tears (Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge)
Sixth Grand Slam title. Schwontech and the prestigious service (Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images))
Iga Shvyontek and Amanda Anisimova at the finish (Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq)
The 24-year-old Swiatek, a former world number one, came into the grass tournament, which was considered her weak point, after a rather disastrous season, but to the surprise of many, she showed dramatic improvement on the surface. She finished Roland Garros having lost her winning streak in the tournament - which stood at no less than 26 - and dropped to eighth in the world, her lowest ranking since February 2022. But she and her team have worked on improving her movement and serve to be more successful on grass - and it has worked.
So far this summer, she has won ten matches on grass - more than in any other calendar year of her career. Two weeks ago, she reached her first final on grass, at the Hamburg tournament (where she lost to Jessica Pegola), and now, after reaching her second final on the surface - she also finished as the big winner. Over the past two weeks, she has lost only one set - in the second round. Since then, she has hardly encountered difficulties, as she knocked out three opponents from the top 35 in a row, including a crushing 2:6, 0:6 over Belinda Bencic in the semifinals.
On the losing side, Anisimova, 23, was eliminated in the Wimbledon qualifiers last year after returning to tennis after an eight-month hiatus following the death of her father, who was also her coach. In the 12 months since, her career has soared to new heights, and in this tournament she has recorded a record-breaking achievement. Until last week, her biggest Grand Slam achievement was a semifinal at Roland Garros in 2019, when she was 17.
Iga Swietokrzyskie (Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville)
Princess Kate in the royal gallery (Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
Martina Hingis at the All England Open (Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
She was taken aback by the surprise. Anisimova (Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
A year ago, she was ranked 189th in the world, breaking into the top 20 for the first time in the world rankings, and before Wimbledon, there were already signs that Anisimova could go far, after reaching the final of the Queen's Club tournament on grass. She opened Wimbledon with a crushing 0:6, 0:6 over Yulia Putintseva (formerly top 10 in the world), and in her last four rounds, the battles dragged on into tense matches, but Anisimova used her physical strength to win again and again. In the semifinals, she achieved a huge victory, when she defeated world number 1, Aryna Svalenka, for the sixth time in the nine times they met. After tonight's stinging loss in the final, during which she struggled to even get on the board, she will take solace, as mentioned, in entering the top ten in the world.
Easily. Swietok(Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq)
Shviontek and Anisimova before the opening shot (Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq)
The course of the game
First set: Swiatek opened the match with complete dominance, breaking Anisimova's serve in the first game. The Polish player's momentum continued in the next three games with another break, while the American opponent had difficulty entering the game and getting on the board. Over the last three games, Anisimova managed to win only one point on the way to a 6-0 lead for the Pole after just 25 minutes.
Set Two: The trend of the first set continued, with a quick break by Swiatek, who after two games in the second set lost only two points. In response, the crowd tried to push Anisimova, who let out a roar of frustration. She did manage to fight back in the third game and drag it to a tiebreaker, but she lost that too in the end to the Pole, who completed the safe path to the historic victory in just 57 minutes.
