Iga Swiatek is a player who often causes derision simply by going about her game in the only way she knows how.
Her mannerisms, preparations and on-court practice will likely be nothing more than habitual, and yet she is often scrutinised for everything she does, accused of gamesmanship or complaining about things that some feel she doesn’t need to.
Last year marked one such occasion where one of the 24-year-old’s comments was lambasted, as she spoke after exiting Wimbledon in just the fourth round.
She spoke about the errors she made and what she and her team failed to do, rather than how her opponent had played. As such, people accused Iga Swiatek of making excuses and not taking ownership of a poor performance.
Ironically, one year later, everything she said has proven to be true.
What Iga Swiatek said after losing at Wimbledon in 2024
Sat in the Wimbledon media room in 2024, after her tournament had come to an end, the atmosphere surrounding her was far different to how it was this year.
After all, she is now the champion, whereas 12 months earlier marked yet another early exit from the All-England Club as her grass-court struggles continued.
Dumped out by Yulia Putintseva, the top seed’s assessment of her loss was open and honest.
And yet, it was not received well. Swiatek had claimed: “I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros, I didn’t really rest properly. I’m not going to make this mistake again and, you know, after such a tough clay-court season I really messed up my recovery.
“I literally came back to work, not tennis-wise but like, off-court stuff and I shouldn’t have done that. Maybe next year I’m going to take a vacation and literally just do nothing.”
But people felt this was an unfair assessment, insisting she give credit to Putintseva for simply being better than she was.
Her historical underperformance on this surface can also be attributed to the mistake Swiatek has admitted she kept making on grass until this year.
Iga Swiatek has been proven right after winning Wimbledon title this year
It’s quite ironic how sport can work out sometimes, proving some people woefully wrong, and vindicating others.
On this particular occasion, Swiatek has fortunately fallen into the latter category, with her comments after exiting Wimbledon now clearly correct.
In previous years, the Polish player had won the French Open almost without struggle.
Naturally, this marked a huge success for her, but in turn afforded little time to rest, play a grass-court preparation tournament, and then head to Wimbledon.
What happened after her Parisian triumph was a rushed, unpredictable affair, and often resulted in an early exit from SW19.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
This year, however, she exited early at Roland Garros, and so was given that opportunity to relax and readjust to the new surface.
Like she said in 2024, she knew what went wrong for her, and by losing earlier than usual, she had ample opportunity to rectify it this year.
And, when given the chance, it resulted in her claiming the title.
For all the disdain and derision she received, Swiatek was right, and is now a six-time Grand Slam champion.