Iga Swiatek bulldozed her way to victory in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, barely giving opponent Amanda Anisimova a chance as she swept to a 6-0 6-0 victory.
The emphatic scoreline – the first in a Grand Slam final since Steffi Graf’s 1988 French Open triumph – was a far cry from the struggles Swiatek had suffered on the surface up until 2025.
Swiatek won the Wimbledon Girls’ Singles title in 2018 but has struggled since, only reaching her first grass-court final in June of 2025 at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany.
It felt like something clicked for Swiatek at Wimbledon this year. Her best result in five attempts before this year was the quarter-final stage, which she achieved in 2023 before losing in the third round in 2024.
Lindsay Davenport, who won the 1999 Wimbledon Ladies Singles title, believes the Pole figured something out on the SW19 grass this year.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesLindsay Davenport says Iga Swiatek had ‘a shift in her mindset’ on grass courts
Speaking on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Davenport discussed a shift in mindset which may have helped Swiatek achieve Wimbledon glory.
Davenport said: “You need the reps on this surface, no question about it. But you also have to have the mindset and you have to kind of get over and go ‘whatever happens, happens.’
“You’re going to miss some shots you should make, you’re going to get some points that go really fast. You’ve just got to kind of accept the way grass court tennis is. It just seemed like there was a shift in her mindset this entire tournament of ‘I can play on this surface.’
“I love what Jim said when he quoted Iga. She said ‘my shots are listening to me in practice.’ That’s step one, okay maybe I can play out here.
“She liked her draw, she went through, the courts were playing to her liking and you know what? She just accepted everything that was thrown at her this tournament.”
Jim Courier says Iga Swiatek didn’t have the same expectations she does on clay
Courier, who won four Grand Slam titles during his playing career, discussed the level of expectation Swiatek faces from surface to surface.
The Pole is renowned for her clay court magic, having won four French Open titles. However, Courier claimed Swiatek may have been ‘feeling the strain’ of being the favourite at this year’s French Open, where she lost in the semi-finals to Aryna Sabalenka.
Following on from Davenport on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Courier said: “And she (Swiatek) also didn’t have the expectation set she does when she plays on the clay.
Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
“It really felt like this clay court season, she was feeling the strain and the stress of being the favourite and trying to win RG again and she came in with this lightness this tournament.
“[Swiatek] just seemed happy from the jump and that manifested itself into her best tennis on this surface, and she also sort of played her own style of tennis here and maybe didn’t concede too much to the surface and I think the conditions really allowed her to enjoy her style of tennis more than ever.”