All class on grass: Swiatek runs away with 1st Wimbledon title

Playing on Court No.1 at the All England Club in 2017, Iga Swiatek had an epiphany.

- Shahid Judge

"This is why I play tennis, to make the show, to make people clap, to make them enjoy," she had said after winning the junior Wimbledon title that year, as quoted by the tournament website. "I feel like that's my goal, to entertain. I think I learned that today. I didn't know about it. That's new for me."

She turned that realisation into a reality, and how. A raw talent in 2017, she had risen to the world No.1 spot and won four French Open and one US Open title going into the 2025 season.

From being the wunderkid at the second biggest stadium at SW19 eight years ago, on Saturday Swiatek etched her name in the annals of Wimbledon folklore by winning the Venus Rosewater Dish.

She had talked about putting on a show, and on Centre Court she put on a dominant display of hard-hitting tennis to run away with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Amanda Anisimova in the final.

The irony of Swiatek's career has been that the surface where she first announced herself to the tennis world has been the one she has struggled on the most through her professional career. Before this season, her best run at Wimbledon was the quarterfinal in 2023. And none of her 22 tour titles came on grass courts.