Before this, Iga Swiatek‘s last triumph came in the 2024 French Open. For someone of Swiatek’s caliber, it’s a long gap. Throughout these last twelve months or so, she had struggled to re-establish her dominance in the tennis world, even dropping to number 8 in the singles ranking. Of course, her confidence took a hit, too. And it showed during the clay-court swing. After her defeat in the SF of the Madrid Open against Coco Gauff, she admitted that she wasn’t really sure what she had in her “tool box” and claimed that she didn’t even have a Plan B because nothing had worked that day.

Then, just before the start of the French Open, when she was asked about her expectations for the tournament, she said, “Obviously it would be stupid to expect a lot because I’m not able to play my game right now.” She went home after losing the semifinal matches in the previous two Slams, but at Wimbledon, she made sure that she got to the end. And what a way to do that! She defeated America’s Amanda Anisimova by 6-0,6-0 in the final. From being habituated to entering tournaments as a top seed to having less of the limelight on her, did this little thing make her approach freer?

Addressing that during her post-match interview with Tennis Channel, she said, “Yeah, I think you know after so many tournaments that I won, there’s always going to be people expecting, but for sure on grass it’s a little bit less also because I said, you know, it’s not my favorite surface. So, um yeah, I could just kind of focus on the process, focus on developing as a player rather than…I don’t know…making everybody happy. But for sure, it wasn’t an easy year in terms of that.” With that win, Iga Swiatek became the third woman in the Open Era to win her first six Grand Slam singles finals.

Not only that, she’s now in fact the first Polish player to win Wimbledon in the Open Era. Talking about her success journey, she further added, “I’m happy that I have the freedom here to just do my job because yeah the previous months were pretty touch with the expectations and people, you know got used to me winning, and I’m not going to win everything, but I’m trying to just focus on my own process and I know that I’m going in a good direction. Sometimes there are going to be ups and downs, but I hope I prove to them that they should just let me do my job.”

Her slump in form had put her in the Polish media’s crosshairs. In fact, she even addressed the criticism, saying that there were many “theories” especially in Polish media about her, that were simply “not true.”

This had prompted American legend Andy Roddick to take a jibe at the Polish media as well. “She complains about the Polish media. I’m sorry, if you are a sports journalist in Poland and you are crushing Iga on a week-to-week basis, you are a f—— moron. You are. I’m sorry.” Swiatek, however, can put these things in the past and bask in the praises she has been receiving. For the time being, at least.

Tennis legends react to Iga Swiatek’s dominating victory over Amanda Anisimova

Everyone expected a fierce battle in this blockbuster encounter between Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova at the Wimbledon final. But who would have thought that this match would get over within an hour itself (57 minutes)? Reacting to this one-sided battle, Amanda Anisimova said, “It was a bit tough to digest obviously…It’s not how I would have wanted my first Grand Slam final to go. I think I was a bit in shock after as well.”

She vowed to make a stronger comeback, but could Iga Swiatek have just let her win one set? “No! It’s sports! You beat someone as badly as you can beat them! You cannot give someone a game!” said Andy Roddick in the latest episode of the Served podcast. Talking about the Pole, she won the Girls’ Wimbledon singles title in 2018, and now, seven years later, she did it again at the Women’s event. Who says she can’t play on grass?

Iga Swiatek is now also the eighth player in the Open Era to win women’s singles Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces. How does American legend John McEnroe look into this one-sided final? Speaking to BBC Sport after the match, McEnroe said, “I think almost everyone is in a state of shock at what transpired. I have to hand it to Swiatek. I don’t think there are many people who saw this coming, that she would be this good on this surface, after the struggles she has had. So all credit to her.”

After all, it was the first time a Wimbledon final in the Open Era ended in a 6-0, 6-0 score line. The last time this happened was way back in 1911, when Dorothea Lambert Chambers defeated Dora Boothby. Iga Swiatek surely couldn’t have asked for a better finish. But that’s not all from the grass court major this year, as the men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner awaits. Don’t miss a moment—get minute-by-minute coverage of The Championships on EssentiallySports’ Live Blog.