Iga Swiatek renews competitive fire with Wimbledon title 

The New Adventures of an Older, Wiser Iga

A year ago, following Swiatek’s run to the title at Roland Garros, my public belief was that she was ready to make a strong run at Wimbledon. Tempting as it is to say I was simply off by a year, the truth is that in the intervening time, I’ve been highly critical of Swiatek’s competitive demeanor, even to the point of suggesting she fire her entire team. Given that Swiatek only reached the semis of Roland Garros last month after having previously won four titles there and had yet to win a tournament since winning in Paris in June ‘24, I was hardly optimistic about how she’d fare at Wimbledon.

But with a run to the finals of Bad Homburg serving as a prologue, Swiatek proved masterful on the grass. From impeccable footwork to superb shot selection decisions and execution, Swiatek smothered opponents with exquisite focus and movement. Her forehand technique was more compact and even the Swiatek serve, a long-troubled motion, had improved significantly. Speaking about her serve following the final, Swiatek said, “For sure I was surprised with the consistency. I knew I can do it before, but I don't think I ever served so well throughout the whole three weeks even.” As those technical improvements kicked in, Swiatek competed with more poise than she’d shown for many months. To see her overcome the distraught moments of recent times was a refreshing reminder of what makes a tennis champion both human—and extraordinary.

SW19 favoring outlier women's champions

For the ninth straight year, a different woman has won Wimbledon. Not since 2016, when Serena Williams raised the Venus Rosewater Dish for the second consecutive time and seventh overall, has a WTA player taken the Wimbledon title at least twice. Why is this the case?

One theory is that today’s Hologic WTA Tour is so deep that many contenders can surface at any stage of the tournament (after all, the only set ’25 champion Iga Swiatek lost came in the second round versus Caty McNally). Another holds that top players these days lack the dominant and wide range of aggression-oriented skills that allowed the likes of Serena, Venus Williams, Martina Navratilova, Stefanie Graf, and Billie Jean King to win Wimbledon frequently. This gets us closer to the heart of the matter.

Contemporary tennis, both women’s and men’s, has a strong defensive quality to it; a tremendous emphasis on east-west movement, mostly across the baseline (as first best demonstrated in the Open era by Chrissie Evert). These were the skills that allowed Coco Gauff at Roland Garros to brilliantly extend rallies long enough to take control of many a rally.

But even though grass has gotten much slower in the 21st century, it’s still the consummate surface for north-south opportunists (including King, Navratilova, and, yes, McNally) who can quickly terminate a point. In other words, while grass certainly rewards nimble footwork, it can also reduce the value of east-west court coverage. Rallies end sooner. Surprises will happen when a particular player gets hot just long enough to earn an upset. Looking ahead, significant as performing well at The Championships is in the annals of tennis history, don’t think that what works on grass necessarily creates a sustainable model for success elsewhere. It’s hard to believe there will be as many upsets at the US Open as there were at Wimbledon.