Let’s start by acknowledging the champion, Iga Świątek, who won her sixth major on Saturday at Wimbledon, serving as both the unstoppable force and immovable object as she beat Amanda Anisimova in the women’s singles final. It was her first title since last year’s Roland Garros. Her fallen star has reascended. A player who has been No. 1 for most of the past five years was knocked from the top spot, then from the top five. She came to Wimbledon as the No. 8 seed, her lowest positioning at a major since 2020. Now it’s time for Iga 2.0.
In her seven matches at the All England Club, she won with a series of offense and defense, an increased level of comfort on the grass and she brought not only her athleticism to bear, but also her mental focus. She is now 6–0 in major finals, and she is one major away (the Australian Open) from winning the career Slam—and she is still not yet 25.
But, we’ve buried the lede here. This match will always be remembered less for Świątek’s title than for the scoreline she took to get there. She won 6–0, 6–0 in 57 minutes, the dreaded double bagel. In full candor, this was less a celebration than a funeral, a tough-to-watch last match of the tournament—a bad combination of Anisimova’s stage fright and an indomitable player at the peak of her powers.
A quick word about Anisimova. Forty-eight hours before the final, she stared down Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 1 player. It is extraordinary, and a testament to tennis’s persistent challenge, that she was so out of sorts against Świątek. While she only had two fewer winners than Świątek, she had 17 more unforced errors and struggled to keep the ball in the court, even in the middle of rallies. She leaves Wimbledon ranked No. 7, a career high, and one hopes that this is bittersweet—if in the extreme—and she remembers the first six matches more vividly than the last one.
As for Świątek, she is now back to No. 3 in the rankings, and more importantly, her aura is back. The questions about her confidence? The questions about her decision to work with a new coach? The questions about her mental tenacity? They are all gone. What we are left with instead is a generational player who will now head to New York, suddenly trying to win her second major of the season and, remarkably, her seventh major overall.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Iga Świątek Ushers in Renaissance With Wimbledon Title.
