Swiatek revels in special Wimbledon triumph after hitting Grand Slam six
The 24-year-old has won four Suzanne Lenglen Cups in the last six editions of the French Open to establish herself as the 'Queen of Clay' and conquered the hardcourts of the U.S. Open in 2022, but the grasscourts of Wimbledon have always proved slippery.
Having crossed the quarter-final hurdle for the first time this year, she brutally dismantled Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in the final to confirm herself as a versatile virtuoso of the women's game.
"I don't know. I think the fact that it's on grass, it makes it more special, I would say, and more unexpected. It feels like the emotions are bigger, because in Roland Garros I know I can play well, and I know I can show it every year," Swiatek said.
"Here, I wasn't sure of that. I needed to prove that to myself. I'm not going to rank them, because I just have so much respect for the other tournaments. I worked really hard to win all the other Grand Slams.
"So there's no point choosing between them. But this one and the U.S. Open feel, I don't know, better because no one expected that. It wasn't a relief. It was more of good tennis and working to make it happen without baggage on your shoulders."
Swiatek reached her first grasscourt final last month at Bad Homburg before her triumphant fortnight at the All England Club and said she was a little surprised with her level on the sport's fastest surface after the French Open.
"Well, 'shocked' would be too big of a word. For sure I was surprised with the consistency," Swiatek said.
"I knew I can do it before, but I don't think I ever served so well throughout the whole three weeks even. Bad Homburg was also a good tournament in terms of that. It was always more up and down.
"I was just using the good feelings I had on the court. It felt great. I know in my mind I can be focused. I'm not going to waste points and let them go for free. But my level of tennis helped me to keep that on a constant level."
While Anisimova appeared to have frozen under pressure, Swiatek said she relied on her experience to get through.
"Finals sometimes are a bit ugly because there's so much stress. I used the experience from before," she added.
"Today I just wanted to enjoy the time that I had on Centre Court and enjoy the last hours of me playing well on grass. Who knows if it's going to happen again. I just focused on that and I really had fun," she added with a smile.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Early loss against France brought team together, says England coach Wiegman
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland :If England's opening loss to France at Euro 2025 was a cause for concern, coach Sarina Wiegman said being faced with a huge challenge right out of the gate might have been a blessing in disguise for the reigning champions. Wiegman's team bounced back to beat the Netherlands 4-0 in a must-win match and then thrashed tournament debutants Wales 6-1 on Sunday - and now ride a confident wave of togetherness into their quarter-final match against Sweden. "We didn't have a good start against France, but that gave us also the urgency to fix, to do things better as a team on the pitch, getting the connections better," Wiegman said. "With that loss, the urgency came. "The team really responded well on that, and now hopefully we can show that again against Sweden. We built momentum also from the France game, because that really brought us together." Sweden, who lost to England in the semi-finals at Euro 2022, were barely challenged in this year's group stage, winning all three of their games by a combined score of 8-1. England finished second in their group, which means, provided they get past Sweden in the quarters, they will avoid world champions Spain in the semi-finals. Wiegman played down the idea that England may have benefited by not winning the group. "I think that in tournaments, that's really tricky to think, 'Oh, we want to go that way, because, then we might have this and this'," Wiegman said. "If you start thinking like that, that's very tricky. You're trying to just win every game, and then see where you finish in the group, and then you play who's in front of you. "If you want to be successful in the tournament, you should be able to win every single game. So that's how we approach it." The celebratory England crowd at Arena St. Gallen on Sunday periodically broke into a song about Wiegman, who has won 14 of the 15 European Championship games she has coached. Singing to the famous 1958 tune by The Champs, every time the song loudly exclaims "Tequila!" the supporters yelled "Sarina!" "It's really nice," Wiegman said, looking slightly red-faced at the question. "Doesn't make me feel really comfortable. But yeah, they were creative, I clapped a little bit for them. I hope they can sing a lot still over the next weeks." Wiegman's team take on Sweden on Thursday in Zurich.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Early loss against France brought team together, says England coach Wiegman
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox ST. GALLEN, Switzerland - If England's opening loss to France at Euro 2025 was a cause for concern, coach Sarina Wiegman said being faced with a huge challenge right out of the gate might have been a blessing in disguise for the reigning champions. Wiegman's team bounced back to beat the Netherlands 4-0 in a must-win match and then thrashed tournament debutants Wales 6-1 on Sunday -- and now ride a confident wave of togetherness into their quarter-final match against Sweden. "We didn't have a good start against France, but that gave us also the urgency to fix, to do things better as a team on the pitch, getting the connections better," Wiegman said. "With that loss, the urgency came. "The team really responded well on that, and now hopefully we can show that again against Sweden. We built momentum also from the France game, because that really brought us together." Sweden, who lost to England in the semi-finals at Euro 2022, were barely challenged in this year's group stage, winning all three of their games by a combined score of 8-1. England finished second in their group, which means, provided they get past Sweden in the quarters, they will avoid world champions Spain in the semi-finals. Wiegman played down the idea that England may have benefited by not winning the group. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business From wellness zone to neurodivergent room: How companies are creating inviting, inclusive offices Singapore Govt will continue to support families, including growing group of seniors: PM Wong at PCF Family Day Singapore Swift action needed to stop vaping's slide from health risk to drug epidemic Singapore Experts call for legal agility to tackle influx of drug-laced vapes in Singapore Opinion Hong Kong's past is disappearing, one icon at a time Asia Heaven sent? India's opposition parties build temples to woo Hindu voters Sport Sinner dethrones Alcaraz to capture maiden Wimbledon crown Singapore From Normal stream to Parliament: 3 Singapore politicians share their journeys "I think that in tournaments, that's really tricky to think, 'Oh, we want to go that way, because, then we might have this and this'," Wiegman said. "If you start thinking like that, that's very tricky. You're trying to just win every game, and then see where you finish in the group, and then you play who's in front of you. "If you want to be successful in the tournament, you should be able to win every single game. So that's how we approach it." The celebratory England crowd at Arena St. Gallen on Sunday periodically broke into a song about Wiegman, who has won 14 of the 15 European Championship games she has coached. Singing to the famous 1958 tune by The Champs, every time the song loudly exclaims "Tequila!" the supporters yelled "Sarina!" "It's really nice," Wiegman said, looking slightly red-faced at the question. "Doesn't make me feel really comfortable. But yeah, they were creative, I clapped a little bit for them. I hope they can sing a lot still over the next weeks." Wiegman's team take on Sweden on Thursday in Zurich. REUTERS
CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
Sinner rises above adversity to make Italian history
LONDON :Jannik Sinner spoke of his pride at overcoming months of adversity on and off the court after claiming his first Wimbledon title by dethroning rival Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday. The ice-cool 23-year-old beat the Spaniard 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 to become Italy's first Wimbledon singles champion and claim his fourth Grand Slam title. Sinner's third major came at this year's Australian Open where he retained the title despite the dark cloud of a possible ban for a doping violation hanging over his head. Tennis authorities found the world number one bore 'no fault or negligence' for a positive test for anabolic steroid clostebol - Sinner saying it had inadvertently entered his system via a massage from a team member - but he accepted a three-month ban from World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in February. His title on Sunday was his first since returning in May and came five weeks after losing an epic French Open final to Alcaraz in which he squandered three match points. "Very emotional, even if I don't cry," Sinner told reporters on Sunday. "It feels emotional because only me and the people who are close to me know exactly what we have been through on and off the court, and it has been everything except easy. "We've tried to push every practice session, even if I was struggling at times mentally. Maybe even more in practice sessions because I feel like when I play the match, I can switch off and just play. I believe that this helped me a lot." Sinner praised his team, including Australian coach Darren Cahill, for helping him bounce back from the heartache of Paris and snap a five-match losing streak against Alcaraz. Cahill said it was down to Sinner's resilience. "I think you could see that from the first match that he played, that he wasn't carrying any baggage from Roland Garros," Cahill told reporters. "That's not easy to do. "It's easy for us to say that in words, to put it to one side, but for the player to wipe it away and be able to come here with the mentality that he had, is 100 per cent credit to him." Sinner said the way he lost to Alcaraz in Paris had actually made it easier to move on. "I always tried to be honest with myself ... I always tried to accept it," he said. "I believe if you lose a Grand Slam final that way, it's much better like this than when someone kills you. "I did a lot of intensity in every practice because I felt like that I could play very good. That's why I also said after Roland Garros that it's not the time to be down, because another Grand Slam is coming up, and I did great here."
