It took Iga Swiatek less than an hour to defeat Amanda Anisimova and be crowned, for the first time, champion at Wimbledon. It was a historic double 6-0 (the first time this has happened in a Grand Slam final since Roland Garros in 1988; the first at Wimbledon since 1911, long before the start of the ‘Open Era’) in favor of the Pole in a duel that was seen and not seen. Swiatek, who won her sixth Grand Slam, thus crowned a magnificent tournament (only one set conceded, in the second round against McNelly) on the surface that, on paper, was the worst for her
Who was going to tell Iga Swiatek that she was going to be champion at Wimbledon and, moreover, to star in one of the most overwhelming thrashings in the history of finals. “Tennis is full of surprises,” she herself admitted. And more so in 2025. After leaving behind the disqualification for doping (which lasted three weeks after she proved that the contamination by trimetazidine (TMZ) was not intentional), the four-time Roland Garros champion went to London with the sole intention of seeing if she could surpass her best historical result: the quarter-finals in 2023. She has done so, of course, and is now reigning at the All England Club.
The match was actually one of the most lopsided finals in history. Swiatek, just one year more ‘veteran’ but with much more experience and five majors already under her belt, started strongly on the return and put Anisimova, who seemed nervous in her first Grand Slam final, on the ropes. Three break points right at the start and on the second… 0-1 in just 120 seconds of play.
But the decisive game was going to be the third. The one that confirmed the trend. Anisimova went 40-15 with her serve, she seemed to be recovered. But Swiatek equalised and in an endless deuce, in a game of almost 10 minutes, ended up taking it after a double fault by the American. Amanda was overwhelmed by the situation.
Anisimova, totally out… and broken
The first set was over in just 25 minutes with a 0-6 scoreline to remember. Iga only conceded nine points to her opponent. Everything was going her way, while Anisimova was in despair. She had a few minutes to reset and start again or the first Grand Slam final of her life was going to be over before she knew it.
Since Martina Navratilova in 1983 (against fellow American Andrea Jaeger), no women’s Wimbledon final had started with a ‘bagel’. And the problem for Anisimova… is that she was on her way to a second. Nothing changed and Amanda, completely broken on court, was heading for Steffi Graf’s 6-0, 6-0 win over Natalia Zvereva at Roland Garros 1988.
And it came. 28 unforced errors from Anisimova and the American’s absolute inability to get into the match, gave Swiatek a moment for the history books. Champion at the All England Club in just 57 minutes and that’s 71 sets won to love for the Pole
Read the full article here
