{"id":2441,"date":"2025-07-18T06:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/2441\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T06:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:40:10","slug":"todd-woodbridge-names-the-22-time-grand-slam-champion-who-iga-swiatek-really-reminded-him-of-at-wimbledon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/2441\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Woodbridge names the 22-time Grand Slam champion who Iga Swiatek really reminded him of at Wimbledon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Iga Swiatek took her game to another level on the grass in 2025, as she conquered the surface she had struggled on for years.<\/p>\n

Before 2025, Swiatek had never reached a grass-court final on the WTA Tour<\/a>, with her best Wimbledon performance coming two years ago, when she made a run to the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Breaking new ground, Swiatek qualified for the final of the Bad Homburg Open<\/a> in the lead-up to Wimbledon, where she fell to Jessica Pegula in straight sets.<\/p>\n

\"IgaPhoto by Dean Mouhtaropoulos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Carrying that momentum forward to Wimbledon, Swiatek<\/a> dropped just one set as she booked her place in the final.<\/p>\n

Maintaining her perfect record in Grand Slam finals, Swiatek dominated Amanda Anisimova<\/a> 6-0, 6-0, picking up her sixth major title.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the Pole\u2019s stunning win, Todd Woodbridge<\/a> has compared Swiatek to a 22-time Grand Slam champion.<\/p>\n

Todd Woodbridge says \u2018relentless\u2019 Iga Swiatek reminded him of Steffi Graf at Wimbledon<\/p>\n

During the latest episode of \u2018The Tennis\u2019, former double world number one Woodbridge gave his verdict on Swiatek\u2019s Wimbledon<\/a> campaign.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was relentless. It was [Steffi] Graf<\/a>-like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so ironic that she would lose in Paris and get the time to play a lead in tournament and prepare better for here, with a little less pressure than usual as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was not the number one player in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the final, what experience she showed from the very first point. She was ruthless and very deserving overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiatek became the first player to win a Wimbledon final 6-0, 6-0 in 114 years when she dismantled Anisimova in Saturday\u2019s Championship match.<\/p>\n

\"IgaPhoto by Robert Prange\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Winning her sixth major title in such dominant fashion, Woodbridge believes Swiatek is on her way back to the top of the women\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did not go diving, she has just fallen off a ranking point or two, and this will give her confidence on every surface now, and I look forward to seeing what she can do in Australia. That is the one really to complete that set,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo some really good stories unfolding, but I think for Iga [Swiatek] it has taken a bit of time for the new coaching team to kick in, and I think she will trust and believe in that with Wim Fissette<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swiatek has now won three of the four titles required to complete the Career Grand Slam, with the Australian Open<\/a> all that\u2019s left for her to complete the set.<\/p>\n

Grand Slam2019202020212022202320242025Australian Open2R4R4RSF4R3RSFFrench Open4RWQFWWWSFWimbledon1R\u20134R3RQF3RWUS Open2R3R4RW4RQF\u2013Iga Swiatek\u2019s record at Grand Slams<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if Swiatek can add the Australian Open title to her trophy cabinet in 2026, but it will certainly be worth tuning in for when the tournament begins on Monday, January 12.<\/p>\n

Can Iga Swiatek surpass Steffi Graf\u2019s career achievements?<\/p>\n

Woodbridge said Swiatek reminded him of Graf during Wimbledon, but how wide is the gap between their career achievements?<\/p>\n

Graf is a 22-time Grand Slam winner who held the world number one ranking for a mouthwatering 377 weeks.<\/p>\n

Swiatek, on the other hand, has six Grand Slams to her name and has been ranked number one in the world for 125 weeks.<\/p>\n

Trailing the German by 16 Grand Slams, and 252 weeks at number one, Swiatek certainly has her work cut out for her if she wants to catch Graf.<\/p>\n

\"SteffiAug-Sep 1996: Steffi Graf of Germany holds the trophy aloft after her victory in the Womens Singles Final match during the US Open Tournament played at Flushing Meadow in New York, USA. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Botterill\/Allsport<\/p>\n

However, at just 24 years of age, there is still plenty of time for Swiatek to close the gap as she continues to impress on the WTA Tour.<\/p>\n

Since Swiatek won her first major in 2020, she has averaged one Grand Slam per year, which should see her reach double digits in no time.<\/p>\n

If she continues at her current rate of one Grand Slam every year, Swiatek would match Graf\u2019s tally at the age of 40.<\/p>\n

As it is unlikely, albeit not impossible, that Swiatek will be winning majors in her 40s, she may need to speed things up if she wants to surpass Graf\u2019s numbers.<\/p>\n

Only time will tell if Swiatek can win 20+ Grand Slams, but if she continues to play as well as she did at Wimbledon, you wouldn\u2019t want to bet against it.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iga Swiatek took her game to another level on the grass in 2025, as she conquered the surface…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,2636,85,3740,747,3741,749,2637],"class_list":{"0":"post-2441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-iga-swiatek","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-steffi-graf","13":"tag-tennis","14":"tag-todd-woodbridge","15":"tag-wimbledon","16":"tag-wta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}