'Second half of last year was really challenging'

For weeks while back home in Warsaw last year, Iga Swiatek hung out with friends and made new ones, but didn't dare tell them about a doping case that was hanging over her.

- Associated Press

“Obviously, in the back of my mind,” she said Saturday evening at the All England Club, “I had this thing.” There was more going on, too, and she only opened up to her family and her team. A coaching change. A long-for-her title drought. A ranking drop. Her grandfather's passing. “It all (happened) together,” Swiatek said. “It wasn't easy.” And so, in some ways, the Wimbledon championship Swiatek claimed with a 6-0, 6-0 victory —yes, read that score again— in 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova could be viewed as more than merely a significant on-court result.

It mattered, of course, that she finally conquered grass courts, in general, and that venue, in particular. That the 24-year-old from Poland became the youngest woman with at least one major trophy on all three surfaces since 2002, when Serena Williams did it at age 20. That Swiatek now needs only an Australian Open title to complete a career Grand Slam.