Iga Swiatek admitted she felt some empathy for opponent Amanda Anisimova after denying the tearful American a single game in the Wimbledon final.
For the first time in more than 100 years, the women’s final was won by a 6-0 6-0 scoreline, with Swiatek needing less than an hour to secure her maiden Wimbledon title.
It was a nightmare scenario for 23-year-old American Anisimova, who was playing in her first slam final.
“At the beginning I saw that she was tense,” said the Pole. “I wanted to focus on myself and not let that get into my head because it can be distracting, you can start taking things for granted.
“I can only imagine what she felt. Playing a grand slam final, it’s a lot of pressure and she also must have felt a bit more fatigued after the semi-final. It’s not easy and I was a bit worried but I wanted this win so bad that I just did my job.
“Do you really want to win Wimbledon? If you do, then you’re not going to give any point for free.”
After landing a final backhand just inside the line, Swiatek collapsed to the court and then climbed up into the stands to celebrate with her supporters, who included Friends star Courteney Cox.
The pair first met at a sponsor’s event in Paris last year and have stayed in touch.
“They know I love Friends,” said Swiatek. “She loves tennis, she always posts about it and she plays pretty well so it was kind of funny. I didn’t know she was going to come here. We’re in touch but I’m glad she didn’t text me because when I know someone famous is going to watch me I get stressed.”
Swiatek took her tally of grand slam titles to six, but that is still one behind her coach, Belgian Wim Fissette, who has now won major trophies with four different players.
He previously coached Angelique Kerber to the Wimbledon crown while he has also won US Open and Australian Open titles with Kim Clijsters and Naomi Osaka.
Asked if he could have expected the scoreline, Fissette said: “Of course not. You never do. But I knew that Iga was playing well. I was not there when she played her first five grand slam finals, but she won all of them, so it also means a lot.”
The pair linked up at a difficult moment late last season when Swiatek had just split from previous coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and was privately fighting an anti-doping case, for which she eventually served a one-month suspension.
There were question marks around whether it was the right fit, with Swiatek failing to win a title in the first six months of the year and struggling with pressure and expectation on her favoured clay.
Those doubts now appear to be firmly in the past, with Fissette having helped persuade Swiatek she could thrive on grass.
“When I started, she was like, ‘Wim, faster surfaces is just difficult for me’,” he said.
“I had a feeling this could work out. Because just look at the champions the last 10 years. It’s not always the big servers and the super big ground stroke players.
“Also good movers, smart players, that won, so, if Simona Halep can win, or (Marketa) Vondrousova can win, why not not Iga?”
Fissette’s key change was a footwork adjustment that helped the 24-year-old cope better with faster balls on her forehand – although she took some convincing.
“Let’s say it was a battle to get that,” he said with a smile. “When we started the clay-court season, Iga had so much success on the clay that it was difficult to find the moment, or impossible to say, ‘We’re going to do things a little different’.
“On the grass, there was an opening, because she never had success. So I came with some ideas. It was not easy to convince her. But, once she was convinced, she got better every day and and she texted me, actually, from the locker room, like, ‘Maybe it was not a bad idea that point’.”
Swiatek will return to the world’s top three on Monday behind Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, with the story of her season now flipped on its head.
“Semi final 6-2 6-0 and the final 6-0, 6-0, it’s just incredible,” added Fissette. “It’s a beautiful story from struggling in Madrid and Rome. We still call it a successful Paris to go to the semis. That was the comeback and then peaking on the grass and winning our first trophy together.”
