Iga Swiatek has the opportunity to do something at Wimbledon that hasn’t been seen for a decade.
The Pole returns to SW19 as the reigning champion following her remarkable triumph 12 months ago when she thrashed Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in one of the most one-sided major finals of all time. Since then, Swiatek has added two more titles to her collection, but the last time she featured in a final was nine months ago. She is seeded third in this year’s draw.
In 2025, Swiatek became the 10th consecutive woman to win Wimbledon for the first time. The last time a WTA player won back-to-back trophies was back in 2016 when Serena Williams did so. The 44-year-old will be making her singles return at the tournament.
“Everybody’s story is different,” Swiatek replied when asked about the challenges of winning consecutive Wimbledon titles.
“Why? It’s hard to say. For sure, it’s a tournament that maybe creates a different challenge when you come back as the defending champion because of the whole thing happening around it.
“I think there were players that won this tournament that already have won many tournaments and Grand Slams. Why, particularly, it’s hard to repeat that, I have no idea.”
To put the trend into perspective, since 2023, a female player has won back-to-back titles at the three other Grand Slam events. It is a completely different scenario on the men’s Tour with the past seven Wimbledon winners being Novak Djokovic four times in a row, Carlos Alcaraz twice in a row and Jannik Sinner is the most recent champion.
“I feel proud of what happened last year,” Swiatek states.
“My dream came true, kind of. Not even a dream because I didn’t dream that because I thought it was impossible. It feels great.
“On the other hand, I’m here because of the next tournament. I need to also stay present.”
Swiatek enters Wimbledon having played just one Tour-level match on grass, which was in Bad Homburg. She was the top seed at the event before losing in three sets to Emma Navarro. In her last six tournaments, the former world No.1 has only reached the quarter-finals or better at two of them.
For this reason, Swiatek is taking a measured approach when discussing the Wimbledon double.
“I’m going to look at it in a realistic way. Obviously last year’s grass season was great. But it’s not like I always felt amazing on grass,” she said.
“Even though I won, I still feel like I have stuff to figure out. The Bad Homburg tournament didn’t really get me that nice rhythm that I had last year. I feel like I’m starting from a totally different position and I’m really in a place where I’m keeping my expectations low.
“I feel like I need to play matches. It’s not going to be smooth because of last year.”
Swiatek will play Taylor Townsend in the first round, who is a former Wimbledon champion in doubles and runner-up in the junior event.
