'Who would have expected that?' - Swiatek triumphs on grass

"Who would have expected that?"

Iga Swiatek was not on many people's radar to win Wimbledon - including her own.

The 24-year-old's two-year reign as world number one - ended by Aryna Sabalenka last year - was underpinned by dominance on the clay and consistency on the hard courts.

Swiatek became known as the 'Queen of Clay' after winning four French Open titles in five years, while she also won the US Open in 2022.

But she now leaves Wimbledon as the champion, thanks to an astonishing 6-0 6-0 victory in just 57 minutes over Amanda Anisimova in Saturday's final.

Not only was this Swiatek's first Wimbledon title, it was her first Tour-level title on grass, having previously won the girls' competition at SW19.

And as Swiatek herself said as she walked into her post-match news conference - who would have expected that?

"This one and the US Open for sure feel better because no-one expected that," Swiatek said.

"It wasn't a relief. It was more of just good tennis and working to make it happen without this baggage on your shoulders.

"It's something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself."

Finding more peace

What makes victory even more surprising is Swiatek has been nowhere near her dominant best over the past year.

She did not reach a final for a year after her 2024 French Open triumph, slipping to eighth in the world - her lowest ranking since March 2022 - as a result.

There were a mixture of reasons - on and off the court - as to why Swiatek's level has dipped.

Losing in the Olympic semi-finals in Paris last summer was a bitter blow, with Swiatek saying she cried for "six hours" afterwards.

In November, it was announced Swiatek had tested positive for heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample. She was subsequently given a one-month ban after the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted the result was caused by contamination.

"Honestly, I needed a couple of months to get back on a proper path. It wasn't easy," she told BBC Sport.

But one person who did call Swiatek's remarkable Wimbledon win was former Grand Slam semi-finalist Andrea Petkovic.

Petkovic saw a "new freshness" in Swiatek during the grass-court tournament in Bad Homburg - and also tipped her to win Wimbledon, as she said herself, "for irrational reasons".

During Swiatek's semi-final match against Jasmine Paolini, Petkovic spotted a large bird circling above Swiatek for around 10 minutes.

When the players changed ends, the bird followed Swiatek to the other side of the court, which Petkovic took as an omen.

"I said there and then she's going to win Wimbledon," Petkovic told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"For most of this year you could sense pressure and tension when she stepped on court.

"In Bad Homburg you could see that was gone."

More time to prepare on grass

Before this year, Swiatek had only reached the second week of Wimbledon once, in a quarter-final run in 2023.

After a shock third-round defeat by Yulia Putintseva last year, Swiatek said she had not given herself enough time to mentally recover from her French Open win a few weeks earlier.

Having lost to Sabalenka in the Roland Garros semi-finals this year, Swiatek went to Mallorca for a week's training on grass before returning to competitive action in Bad Homburg.

Swiatek reached the final at the WTA 500 event, where a defeat by Jessica Pegula left her in tears, but it was an indication that her level on the surface had improved.

"I feel like I have developed as a player and I had time to practise a little bit more [this year]," said Swiatek.

"I would say we mainly focused on my movement and how I should stop before hitting the ball.

"Also, [we worked] on fast hands because obviously it's important here not to stop the movement, even though the ball sometimes is fast."

'Forgiving herself' a bit more

Wim Fissette has coached multiple WTA players to Grand Slam titles, including Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon in 2018

Swiatek replaced long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski with Wim Fissette late last year, and it has taken time for the tweaks she was making to bed in.

"When you make a big change and hire a new coach, it takes a while to see the changes," said Petkovic.

"You feel you're progressing and you're expecting to see results right away. But it doesn't happen right away."

Swiatek's serve is an area which Fissette has focused on.

The Pole won 79% of her first-serve points at Wimbledon - the joint-second highest in the women's singles.

After the Wimbledon final, Swiatek said her serving was the best it has been in the entire grass-court swing, and Petkovic agrees.

"I think she got a bit hectic at the start of the season. Now something is different and she has a bit more patience with herself," Petkovic said.

"I think she's also forgiving herself a bit more if she makes a few unforced errors on the grass."