One of the favourites to take out the ladies singles title at Wimbledon says she will again steal as many towels as she can from the most famous and prestigious tennis tournament.
Iga Swiatek is affectionately nicknamed the ‘towel thief’ on the tennis tour because of her habit of hoarding iconic tournament towels from Grand Slams, including Wimbledon.
She doesn’t keep them for herself but collects them as souvenirs to give to her family, friends, and charities.
Following her matches, Świątek is often caught on camera cramming tournament-branded towels into her tennis bags.
On Monday at Wimbledon, a reporter asked her in a press conference if she would continue stealing the merchandise.
‘Last year you got the nickname of the ‘Wimbledon towel thief’ … will you be living up to that nickname or have you got a new towel strategy?’ they asked.
Iga Swiatek is nicknamed the ‘towel thief’ on the international tennis tour, including Wimbledon
Swiatek is the defending Wimbledon champion and will be looking to defend her title in 2026
She said she gives away the towels she steals from tournaments to family and charities
Wimbledon towels, like this one used by retired champion Roger Federer, are a prized possession for some of the players on the tour
Świątek quickly moved to make sure fans didn’t think she was doing anything too sinister by taking home so many towels.
‘Let’s start from the fact that I don’t have any towels left from last year. My friends wanted, my family wanted … we gave them to some charity because the thing became viral,’ she said.
The Polish player, who won Wimbledon in 2025, confirmed she would continue taking home as many towels as possible.
‘I guess I should steal even more. I will continue that because it’s the best kind of souvenir you can get from a tournament,’ she said.
She was then informed there was a limited-edition red towel available at this year’s Wimbledon tournament to which she replied: ‘I will ask for it.’
Fans online were more than happy for the defending champion to stock up on the towels.
‘Good luck at Wimbledon and towel up, they can afford it,’ one person wrote on X.
Following her Wimbledon victory in 2025, the tournament embraced the joke by presenting her with a personalised purple and green towel that had ‘Property of Iga Świątek, Wimbledon Champion’ emblazoned on it.
