Iga Swiatek is making another determined run at Wimbledon. After a season without a title, the Pole never backed down once! Her 2025 campaign kicked off strongly at the United Cup, where she led Poland to the final. She then reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, narrowly losing to Madison Keys in a tight three-set battle.

Swiatek consistently reached the late stages of WTA 1000 events—semifinals in Doha and Indian Wells and quarterfinals in Dubai and Miami. On clay, she showed her enduring strength by making the semifinals in Madrid and the French Open. Now, at the grass-court Grand Slam, she has a fresh chance to make a big leap forward!

Iga Swiatek’s unfortunate fall in the rankings

With no titles to defend, the pressure on Swiatek was real. In May, she lost in the Italian Open round of 32 to Danielle Collins, dropping from No. 2 to No. 5 in the rankings. Shockingly, this was the first time in four years that the five-time French Open champ fell outside the Top 2. Gauff and Jessica Pegula took over No. 2 and No. 3, while Jasmine Paolini’s Italian title win threatened to push Swiatek even lower. This update ended Swiatek’s amazing streak of 165 consecutive weeks inside the Top 2, including 125 weeks at No. 1 and 40 at No. 2.

At the French Open, as the defending champion, she was seeded fifth but fell to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. Coco then claimed the crown, pushing Iga Swiatek’s ranking down to No. 8. Still, hope flickered at the Bad Homburg Open, where Swiatek reached the finals. But Jessica Pegula defeated her 6-4, 7-5, as Swiatek struggled with 39 unforced errors. She couldn’t find momentum and surrendered the match. The loss hit hard—Iga Swiatek was visibly emotional on her bench, showing how much it affected her just before Wimbledon.

Yet Swiatek stayed positive. “This tournament showed that there is hope for me on grass,” she said. Pegula, who won her third title of the season, agreed: “I know you say you can’t play on grass, but trust me, you’re still very, very good on grass, so cut yourself some slack there.” Perhaps there was some truth to it, as the tables soon turned once they headed into SW19!

Gauff and Pegula’s fate presents an uncanny opportunity for Iga Swiatek

Despite high hopes, Wimbledon 2025 shocked fans on July 1 as Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula both exited in their opening matches at the All England Club. Gauff, the reigning French Open champ and world No. 2, lost to world No. 42 Dayana Yastremska 7-6 (3), 6-1 on Court No. 1. She struggled with her serve, committing nine double faults and 29 unforced errors against just six winners. Gauff admitted feeling “overwhelmed” after her Roland Garros win and the quick transition to grass.

Third seed Pegula fell 6-2, 6-3 to Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Court No. 2 in just 58 minutes. Despite fresh momentum from her Bad Homburg Open title, Pegula managed only five winners and 24 unforced errors. Cocciaretto played flawlessly, not facing a single break point. Pegula called it “probably the worst result I’ve had all year,” highlighting the shock of her early exit.

With both out early, Coco will gain only 10 points at Wimbledon, losing 230 from last year, and Pegula faces a similar drop. Meanwhile, Iga is cruising, having beaten Polina Kudermetova in straight sets and preparing to face Caty McNally, holding steady at No. 4 just behind Gauff and Pegula. But could Swiatek go deep this time around?

Iga Swiatek’s chances of winning at Wimbledon 2025

Swiatek’s Wimbledon history shows she’s more comfortable on clay than grass. The faster grass courts give her less time for big baseline shots, but her game isn’t unsuited to the surface. She proved that recently at Bad Homburg and back in 2018 when she won the Wimbledon junior singles title.

That was perhaps her best run at SW19, something she still remembers today! “It feels like it was in a different lifetime, you know? It was probably the highlight of my career back then. It felt pretty surreal. But on the other hand, I came back home, and nothing really changed,” she said in her pre-tournament press conference.

Professionally, Swiatek’s best Wimbledon result was reaching the quarter-finals in 2023. She also made the fourth round in 2021 and the third round in 2022 and 2024. This year, the No. 8 seed started strong with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Polina Kudermetova on Tuesday, marking her 61st consecutive opening match win—the longest streak this century. Her Wimbledon record is now 12-5 (.706). Despite this, she remains modest about her grass game.

Swiatek said, “It for sure gave me a lot of confidence. Obviously, it’s tennis, so every day is different, but I felt like I’m playing great. I really pushed Jasmine the way I wanted to. I had really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Yeah, also having more time to practice before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a little bit more skills.”

With Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini out, Aryna Sabalenka is the only top-five seed left. Now, all eyes are on Swiatek to see if she can go beyond last year’s fourth round. For live, minute-by-minute coverage of the Championships, head to our Live Blog.