Swiatek and Anisimova chase history

AFP | London

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Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova clash in the Wimbledon final on Saturday with only one thing certain -- there will be an eighth consecutive first-time winner of the women’s tournament.

Swiatek and Anisimova will both be making their first appearance in the Wimbledon final after unexpected runs to the showpiece occasion.

No player has retained the crown since the now-retired Serena Williams won her seventh and final title at the All England Club in 2016.

Aryna Sabalenka started as the hot favourite after reaching the past three Grand Slam finals but faltered in a gripping semi-final against American 13th seed Anisimova.

Poland’s Swiatek is seeded eighth at Wimbledon following a disappointing first half of the season, though she is back up to fourth in the rankings after reaching the final of the grasscourt Bad Homburg tournament.

That run, together with her surge through the draw at All England Club, suggests the 24-year-old is cured of her grass-court allergy.

Initially she went under the radar at Wimbledon, with the focus on Sabalenka and French Open champion Coco Gauff, but she kept winning while the top seeds tumbled, dropping just one set on route to the final.

Swiatek, who had never been past the Wimbledon lasteight before this year, brushed aside former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0 in Thursday’s semi-final.

Four of her five Grand Slam titles have come on the clay of Roland Garros and she won the 2022 US Open on hard courts.

But she is finally showing an affinity with the lawns of Wimbledon, a development that has shocked even her. “Honestly, I never even dreamed that it’s going to be possible for me to play in the final,” Swiatek said. “So I’m just super- excited and proud of myself and, I don’t know, tennis keeps surprising me.