Iga Swiatek believes her historic Wimbledon title is the perfect response to her critics.
The Pole crushed first-time grand slam finalist Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in less than an hour on Centre Court, making it the most one-sided final for 114 years.
Not since 1911, when Dorothea Lambert Chambers beat Dora Boothby, had a Wimbledon title been decided by such a scoreline, while the only other instance at a grand slam came in the French Open in 1988 when Steffi Graf beat Natasha Zvereva.
Swiatek had slipped to eighth in the world rankings after a disappointing clay season by her extremely lofty standards, with the 24-year-old failing to win the French Open for the first time since 2021.
“We as public people and as athletes, we can’t really react to everything what’s going on,” said Swiatek, who served a one-month doping ban at the end of last season after taking contaminated medication.
“We’ve got to focus on ourselves. Obviously sometimes it’s easier to do that, sometimes it’s harder. For sure, the past months, how the media sometimes describe me – and I’ve got to say, unfortunately, Polish media, how they treated me and my team, it wasn’t really pleasant.
“I hope they will just leave me alone and let me do my job because obviously you can see that we know what we are doing, and I have the best people around me.
“I have already proved a lot. I know people want more and more, but it’s my own process and my own life and my own career.”
Swiatek maintained her unblemished record in grand slam finals, making it six titles and becoming the first Polish player, male or female, to win a Wimbledon singles trophy.
By adding the grass-court title to her four French Open crowns and one US Open trophy she has also now won slams on all the surfaces.
She had never previously been beyond the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and she said: “It’s something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself.
“I think the fact that it’s on grass, for sure it makes it more special, I would say, and more unexpected. So it feels like the emotions are bigger because, at Roland Garros, I know I can play well, and I know I can show it every year. Here, I wasn’t sure of that. I also needed to prove that to myself.”
Anisimova’s comeback has been one of the stories of the fortnight, with the former teenage prodigy having stepped away from tennis for eight months in 2023 for mental health reasons.
She came into the final off the back of a semi-final victory over Aryna Sabalenka but from the start appeared paralysed by nerves.
Anisimova’s serve deserted her and there were many more errors than winners off the ground.
The crowd, who had paid more than £300 each per ticket, willed the American to find a foothold in the contest but Swiatek was utterly ruthless.
Another treat for the Pole was receiving the trophy from the Princess of Wales.
“On court she just congratulated (me),” said Swiatek. “She told me some nice stuff about the performance. Later on, I don’t remember really because I was too overwhelmed.
“I didn’t want to do any faux pas. I wanted to behave well. Overall the process of getting the trophy from Her Royal Highness was something surreal. Since I’m a kid, honestly I’m a big fan of the Royal family. It was amazing.”
