Everyone Watches Women's Tennis

Wimbledon Recap: Iga Conquers Grass, Rankings Update

• Matipaishe RM • Season 1 • Episode 5

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In this episode of Everyone Watches Women's Tennis, I'll be discussing the recent Wimbledon tournament, focusing on the women's final between Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova. This episode covers the finalist's stories, match analysis, WTA rankings updates, and a look ahead to the North American hardcourt swing. I'll  highlight the journeys of both finalists, their performances, and the implications for their careers moving forward.


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Matipa Ruzive (00:07)
Welcome back to Everyone Watches Women's Tennis, a tennis podcast that is solely focused on the women's game, giving you regular updates about what is taking place on the WTA Tour, both on and off the court.

Hello everyone and welcome back. Thank you for joining me again for another episode today. have come to the end of the third slam of the year, the third major of the year Wimbledon. And of course there's some things to discuss as always in tennis. It's a constant sport there's always something.

And as I just said because Wimbledon has just come to a close We have to take a look at the final match that was between Iga Swiatek versus Amanda and Isimova Their stories and how they got to that final Then we'll also discuss some other results

concerning the WTA in Wimbledon. I'll go through a rankings recap for you just to show you where people stand and people that have made moves or have reached career high rankings after this tournament.

And then because we are six weeks out from the US Open, We'll just be doing a forecast to the North American Hardcourt Swing. as you can tell, there's a lot to get through. So I think let's just dive straight into it and go to the women's final.

which was played on Saturday in England but very early morning here in Australia.

So looking at that final if you are unaware of the results which I'm sure have been like plastered everywhere if you do get some tennis news elsewhere, but the final between Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek was a 57 minutes match which Iga won 6 loves 6 love and that was the third time in history where someone has won a major final

with a double bagel. So obviously a bagel refers to the zero or the love. The love score line. And quite honestly it was a tough watch. A short watch but a tough one. So before we get into that I just want to talk about our two finalists and how they found themselves in the final.

and a little bit about their stories because both of them in terms of their relationship to tennis and for Iga specifically Wimbledon it's been a bit of an up and down journey so I think it's always nice for the audience or watchers and listeners to have some sort of background on the success because success doesn't just happen in a two week tournament it's built over time

sometimes years. So I'll start with the runner-up and in this case that was Amanda Anisimova. She coming into the tournament she was seeded 13th.

and she is from the United States of America if people are not aware but Amanda has a really interesting story I think I would say she was there were quite a few feel-good stories that came out of Wimbledon but she's probably the biggest one for a lot of people

And I'll just go through some of those reasons just a quick overview of how we got here with Amanda I would say Amanda burst onto the scene in 2019 when she was 17 and made the fourth round of the Australian Open beating some of the favorites

along the way until she lost in the fourth round and then she also made the semi-final of the French Open and I think that's where most people got to know of her and in that semi-final she lost to the eventual champion Ashley Barty and During that same year in August 2019 her father died of a heart attack

And she essentially took some time off tennis for I'd say the rest of that season. And just throughout those years, like 2019 to about 2023, she played well and made some like second week runs in some Grand Slams. And when I say second week, I mean fourth round. Fourth round and Wimbledon quarterfinal as well. But

as someone who saw her make that run to the semi-finals of french open she wasn't hitting the heights that i she would hit or pushing in the top 10 or pushing for major titles she wasn't making those bids for major titles that i expected after that run for the french

open but she was still playing relatively well. She would go into majors and she would be seeded and she was floating around like the top 20 top 30 for a few years. And then 2023 may Amanda announced that she'd be taking a break from tennis and the tour and when she made that announcement which was on Instagram she talked about burnout.

her declining mental health and essentially wanting to put a stop to things before it became something that's like unmanageable or unfixable. So she returned to tennis in January 2024 and of course her ranking had declined.

and then just throughout the year she'd be playing qualifiers for some tournaments. She'd get wild cards for some but for Wimbledon last year she actually played qualifiers and didn't make it to the main draw so she didn't even play Wimbledon main draw last year. So seeing where she's gotten to now in terms of making not just the main draw

and not just being a top 20 player but making a Wimbledon final

It's a huge step, but not even a huge step,

It's amazing progress all done within a year. So you can see that the talent and the work ethic is there and I think that time off was necessary.

because maybe if she didn't take that time off she would be not reaching her potential not being able to put in the amount of work that she's able to put in now because she just can't handle the the pressure and she wouldn't be able to take care of herself properly

but I'm not surprised that now she's reaching these heights in her career she's only 23 so she did have that time to be able to process things take a break as well but now she can fully focus on her career and see where tennis can take her because the talent is there as we can obviously see by her making the final

In terms of the tennis how she got to the Wimbledon final. She started off in round one against Yulia Putinsseva and she beat her 6 love 6 love. she was on the other end of a double bagel. And then

second round was against Renata Zarazua that was straight set 6-4 6-3 then third round against Dalmar Galfi of Hungary that was 6-3 5-7 6-3

Then fourth round against Linda Nosková. That was 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Then quarter-finals she played veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She won that match in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6. Then semi-finals she took out the world number one.

Aryna Sabalenka and that was three sets it was 6 4 4 6 6 4 and then eventually lost to Wimbledon champion love 6 love 6

that's one of the finalists one side of the story Amanda's story and then going into Iga I'm not gonna talk about her Entire career journey. I'll just be talking about leading into this Wimbledon and What her tennis has looked like for the past year so coming into Wimbledon

for Iga she had not made it past the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and she'd done that only on one occasion in 2023 and it was the only slam where she hadn't made it to the semi-finals and because of that it was her worst performing slam and I think saying that is like

she's a victim of her own success because coming into this Wimbledon, like I said, she'd only made quarters once, which for someone who's 24 years old, that makes sense. And not just making quarters of Wimbledon, she's won the other slams, made semifinal twice of Australia, won US Open and won French Open four times.

But because of her performance at Wimbledon, we like to hone in on focus on just that, even though she's excelled in every other part. Of course, there has to be some, I won't say criticism, I think

some analysis some investigation and questions about why she hadn't performed well at Wimbledon but not criticize it to a large extent because then it's putting pressure that doesn't have to be there on a player

And for the past year before Wimbledon, Iga had not won a title since the French Open 2024. And if you know Iga's game and you know her and how dominant she has been, that is a very long time. Again, a victim of her own success. So coming into this Wimbledon, there weren't any expectations on her because number one,

Grasses deemed her worst surface. Number two, she hasn't performed that well at Wimbledon. And number three, she hasn't been playing well for at least, well, when I say hasn't been playing well, hasn't been playing to the best of her ability, her highest of highs. She's still been playing well making semi-finals of the first two Grand Slams of the year, but not being able to.

jump over the hurdle to be in a final and actually win any title for a whole year.

And then in terms of her opponents or journey through Wimbledon, I'll just quickly go through How she got to the final? So first round she played Polina Kudermetova That was a straight set victory 7-5-6-1 then Second round she played American Catie McNally that was a three set match the only three set match that she played this tournament and that one she won 5-7-6-2-6-1

Then third round against Danielle Collins, her arch nemesis. That was 6-2, 6-3 straight sets. Fourth round was against Clara Tauson which was 6-4, 6-1. Before I move on to the quarterfinals, I will be very honest with you. I was really disappointed that Elena Rybakina didn't make it to at least the fourth round, because I would love to have seen that match up. Elena on her turf against...

confident Iga on grass I think would have been a really great match to see but alas draws don't always work out the way you want them or you think they're gonna work out then then for the quarterfinals she played Liudmila Samsonova she won that match 6-2 7-5 semi-final was against Belinda Bencic

She won that match 6-2 6-love and then of course the final where she beat Amanda Anisimova 6-love 6-love.

And before we go into my takeaways from watching that women's final, I just want to do a quick little draw review I'll be honest with you. I think most people that did a draw prediction were probably very incorrect or maybe I'm just saying that to make myself feel better, but

before I just provide some insights and my takeaway from that final. With the draw, I didn't do my best, but I didn't do horrendously. I mean, the person that I had predicted to win the whole tournament lost in the first round, but I think Jessica Pegula losing in the first round would have been a surprise to literally every single person who watches tennis. I don't care what you say. No one saw that one coming, but

just go from the quarterfinals. so out of the eight people I predicted to be in the quarterfinals, I got three out of eight right and that was Aryna Sabalenka, Amanda Anisimova and Liudmila Samsonova.

Then for the semi-finals, I had two out of the four people I predicted correctly and they were just both on the same side of the draw. So that was Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova. Then for the final, I did have one of the finalists correct, which I had Amanda Anisimova. I didn't have Iga, of course. I didn't even have her getting to the quarterfinals and I had her playing Jessica Pegula and Jessica Pegula being the eventual champion. But I'm just happy that at least I had

one of the finalists correct in this one. But I just wanted to add that one in there quickly.

then in terms of my takeaways from the final, it was the first meeting for Amanda and Iga, which I'm really surprised about because they've both been on the tour for quite a while and both have played well for the past four five years. So I'm just surprised that they've never met, even in like in the earlier days in like a first round or a second round,

They played in juniors which Iga did win but this was their first professional meeting and I will say for Amanda probably the worst moment to play Iga is in a Grand Slam final because it's her sixth Grand Slam final and she has a hundred percent record.

And to be honest she didn't have any pressure to win kind of different from if it was Roland Garros where she is the overwhelming favorite always and then next I say this

And I think I this to a couple of people after the final is a six love scoreline is like a combination of two perfect factors colliding at the exact same time. So A it's one player playing well below their standard in a way that's a little bit unexplainable. Then B the other factor is a player playing some of their best tennis.

and not making any errors. And that's essentially what played out in the final on Saturday. And we can see that from their stats as well. with the stats, they basically all sway, not basically, they all sway in favor of Iga, all of the positive stats at least. Iga had an amazing serving day, as she has been basically the entire tournament.

for her first serve percentage was 78 %

Out of the 37 serves that she made, 29 of them were first serves, And then compared to Amanda who served 42 times and 19 of those were first serves, so that's about 45%.

And I will say in terms of Amanda's even the first serves that she got in, they weren't effective as her serve has been for the past two weeks because they were a lot slower, about I'd say 10 to 15 Ks slower, which is a massive difference. And you can kind of see that on the

amount of points that she won on her first serve. she only won 26 % of the points from her first serve. So that's 5 out of 19. And

Iga won 72 % of her first serves so that's about 21 out of 29. second serve Iga won about 5 out of 8 which is 63 % and then Amanda won 8 out of 23 which is about 35%.

And then going into unforced error count which I think always illustrates a lot. Amanda made 28 unforced errors to 8 winners

which you do not want those figures to be unbalanced because a player like Amanda that hits hard plays the margins quite quite fine. Your unforced error count and your win account need to balance. So even if you've made 28 unforced errors, that's fine if you've made at least 26 and above winners because those numbers balance out. But

and completely lopsided in that 28 unforced errors to 8 winners. And then on the flip side of the coin, Iga made 11 unforced errors to 10 winners. So that's balanced.

and like I was saying she barely made any unforced errors. So She wasn't giving away free points to Amanda or something that Amanda could latch on to and maybe create rhythm from She was on her game

And then on Amanda in that final, she was quite tense and tight in the beginning of the match, like basically the entire first set. And I think you could see it in her serve. Like I said before, it was about 10 to 15 K slower and her feet looked stuck, Like they were stuck in quicksand. She was slow to move, slow to react and had like slower anticipation.

And that's part of like the person she was playing who's always on the attack and moves really well and has great anticipation which made it seem worse. I think if she's playing someone else maybe her slower reaction time wouldn't appear as bad or wouldn't look like she wasn't trying. She was definitely trying but she was playing someone who moves so fast and she wasn't anticipating quickly enough.

And another thing that I was really surprised about was the fact that Anisimova didn't take a break or go to the bathroom between the first and second set. Like just to let out some emotion because when you've lost the first set like that, especially in a final, I feel like a lot of players would give themselves space and time.

and an opportunity to just let it all out somewhere. So I was just surprised because when I was watching and the first set ended, I put my laptop down and I think I did something on my phone and I looked up because I thought there'd be a little bit of a break, but I looked up and Amanda was back on and back to serving and I was extremely surprised by that.

And on that whole letting out some emotion, she did a little bit during the second set, but I personally don't think it was enough. I think she needed to let out a lot more just so she could start like swinging a bit more freely.

and maybe by swinging a bit more freely those winners would start coming off her racket but unfortunately that didn't happen and in that second set as well her level did go up a little bit but not enough because her opponent Iga's level didn't drop at all which usually you hope for going from like

set to set you hope for your opponent's level to to drop a little bit especially if they've won the first set that convincingly but that didn't happen and to be honest that rarely happens with Iga especially in a final she doesn't let up and that's probably why she has so many bagels and breadsticks i call them baguettes breadstick

I Baguette. That's like a 6-1 scoreline. But in saying that all about Amanda, I think at least she knows now she can get herself to a Grand Slam final and that any other Grand Slam final that she plays won't be worse than this. And I think with the matches, well, I assumed it was like nerves, which I think sometimes

your body shows your nerves more than you actually feel or your brain thinks you have. Your body will show it more especially as an athlete but she did mention that she was quite fatigued.

She said that in her warm up, she just felt slower and that she was taking a break after every warm up. So I think that's part of it.

And I also think she had some really grueling matches. She had like three grueling three set matches One was against Sabalenka, Nosková and Dalma Galfi. So I think it all caught up to her at the wrong moment.

And then on Iga Swiatek I have to say Iga's serve has improved. Her first serve I was surprised by it. Not at Wimbledon, I was surprised by it in Bad Homburg where she played the week before Wimbledon started.

but I think her second serve is the one that's improved the most at least for these past two weeks because it was probably the most attackable part of her game over the past year you saw it at the french open I think if you have a not a great second serve it makes it even worse on clay

But just that second serve was being attacked left, right and center by every player. then coming into this Wimbledon, wasn't a weakness at all. Obviously a second serve is always going to be like a weaker part of your game, but it wasn't a weakness that people exposed or were able to expose this Wimbledon.

I also say not winning any clay titles for Iga, especially not winning Roland Garros, gave her more time to be on the grass

But for like the two months-ish of the clay season you could see her playing with pressure. So I think after Roland Garros ended, after she lost that semi-final, there's nothing else that was putting pressure on her. Especially even on the grass where, again, as I've said, it was her worst performing Grand Slam and people didn't have any expectations on her.

on grass and they didn't have any expectations that she would figure out grass so quickly. We knew she would figure it out at some point but we just didn't think it would be this quick. also I think what helped going into Wimbledon was her making her first grass final in Bad Homburg. She lost it to Jessica Pegula but being able to

have that confidence being like, okay, I made my first final on grass. I can play on this surface and I can play very well. then in terms of her on the day off the final, she essentially did everything better than Amanda. Served better, returned better, moved better. And she said it in her press conference as well.

that she felt like she did and it's clearly evident. And in her press conference as well, she said, like I said, there was no pressure on her. And she stated herself that she still felt like an underdog in the final match, even though she's ranked higher than Amanda, because no one expected her to be in the position in the first place. She still felt like.

She doesn't have to prove anything. She can just go out and play her game.

And with Iga, I thought this before this title. mean she's won five, she had won five Grand Slams four Roland Garros, one US Open. But after this, I think she's definitely cemented herself as an all-time great. And I think with these, with these milestones, you have to enjoy the moments as they come and you can't look too far ahead.

because you don't know what will happen because after like let's say she's one of sixth grade, people are like maybe she can hit 15 maybe she can hit 20 blah blah blah blah blah all this stuff but it's like you don't know what will happen there's so many examples of things happening to people or their career ending prematurely or even just their form decreasing or people that are up and coming in

are better than them. So I think just enjoy the moment as it comes and enjoy seeing someone be great in real time. But as I say that she is one Australian open away from completing a career Grand Slam. So maybe we'll see that next year or

in next couple of years who knows. so that's all I have to say about the women's final. It wasn't the best final to watch but it was nice to see both players reach different milestones of themselves and it was great to watch them over the past two weeks and to watch the tennis over the past two weeks. I think it's been a high level of tennis brought.

by all the players.

with Wimbledon having ended that means the new rankings came out on Monday which is just a couple of days ago so I just to keep you guys in the loop a little bit I just want to go through some of the rankings

I'll just be going through people who are hitting career highs and any other important things to note about their rankings.

So we'll start from obviously number one until we hit. 100 So start with Aryna Sabalenka. Obviously we're number one is her career best, but she did hit the 12,000 point threshold, which has only been hit by Serena Williams ever since.

ranking points came into being and she's also has spent 46 weeks at number one. Then we've got Mirra Andreeva who has reached a career high of number five and is currently the highest ranked teenager. Then we have Amanda Anisimova who has reached a career high of number seven and has found herself in the top 10 for the first time.

then we've got Jasmine Paolini. Jasmine is now ranked number nine and remains in the top 10 even though she didn't back up the points that she made at the French Open final and the Wimbledon final. She still maintains her spot in the top 10.

Then we've got Ekaterina Alexandrova. She's back to her career best of 15. Then we have Clara Tauson who has reached a career high of 19 and her first time in the top 20. And speaking of the top 20 as well, Bencic is back in the top 20 at exactly number 20. Not her highest, but as someone who was on maternity leave just this time last year, it's great to see her back.

in the top 20. Then we've got Linda Nosková who's hit a career high of number 23. We've got Ashlyn Kruger who's hit a career high of 29. Then we've got Olga Danilovic who's reached a career high of 32. So from 32 to number one those people would be seeded for the US Open if they can maintain their rankings the next couple of weeks.

Then we've got Rebecca Skramkova who's reached a career high of 33. Then we've got Tatjana Maria who's reached a career high at 36 and she's doing this at 37 years and 11 months old. So think I've said before, and it was referring to Tatiana, you never know when your peak will come. So it's good to see her still reaching new milestones in her career. Then we've got Maya Joint.

who has reached a career high of 37 and

She's the second highest ranked Australian and second highest ranked teenager.

and is one of the four teenagers in the top 100. Then we've got Sonay Katal who is ranked number 44 which is a new career high for her and she's the second highest ranked British woman after Katie Boulter Then Hayley Baptiste career high of 48. Then we've got Jessica Bouzas Maneiro career high of 50.

then we've got Lois Boisson with a career high of 60 and that means she won't have to play qualifying or hope for a wild card for the US Open draw. She would just get her spot automatically which is lovely to see that all that hard work in Paris is paying off now. Then there's Solana Sierra

who entered the draw at Wimbledon as a lucky loser and made it to the fourth round. She's reached a career high of 63 and as well she won't have to play qualifiers for the US Open draw. She'll just get in automatically. Then we've got Zeynep Sonmez, career high of 74. Then we've got Victoria Mboko, career high of 86. Another teenager in the top 100. And...

Iva Jovic who's reached a career high of 87. Again, both of them teenagers to finish off the teenagers in the top 100 and they won't have to play qualifiers for the US Open they will just get in automatically.

Then the last three players we have here is Antonia Ruzic of Croatia with a career high of 90 and then Elsa Jacquemot with a career high of 94 and then Aoi Ito of Japan with a career high of 100. So just a quick little rankings recap and highlighting just the different players who've reached some milestones and for you to keep an eye out for them come the US Open.

And before we move on from Wimbledon just want to also talk about the other final that was played with the women which was the women's doubles and that was Elise Mertens and Veronica Kudermotova against Elena Ostapenko versus Su Wei She and Elise Mertens and Veronica Kudermotova beat them in three sets. Three six, six two six four.

And that gives Mertens her fifth doubles Grand Slam title and her second Wimbledon title, which she actually won with Suwei in 2021, who was her opponent for this year's doubles final. it's Kudermetova first Grand Slam title, first Grand Slam title in singles or doubles. I don't watch a lot of doubles, so I don't have too much insight, but it's always something to know and note.

and guess give a congratulations too.

Okay and then just a quick forecast to the North American Hardcourt Swing. There are six tournaments before the US Open which includes two 1000 tournaments but it starts off with a tournament in Prague which is a 250 then we have the DC Open which is a 500 ranked then we have the Canadian Open which is an 1000 then we've got right after it another 1000 in Cincinnati.

Then we've got the Cleveland Open, which is a 250, and then Monterey, which is a 500 level tournament. And with the North American Hardcourt Swing, I just wanted to look at some of the players that I believe are under pressure to maintain the points.

to essentially get similar or better results than they did last year because they gained a lot of points during this period and under pressure to perform well. So we'll start with Paula Badosa. Paula last year she won the DC Open then she made the semis of Cincinnati and quarters of US Open.

Then we have Jessica Pegula who won.

she won in Canada then she made the finals in Cincinnati and the US Open. This is Jessica's favorite part of the year because she's won the Canadian Open twice now and I think this is where she performs her best just before going into that US Open. Then we've got Aryna Sabalenka who won Cincinnati and won the US Open.

made the quarters of the Canadian Open and the semis of the DC Open. So that is a lot of points that she will need to essentially back up, back up her performances. Then we've got Emma Navarro who made the semis of the Canadian Open, Monterey and the US Open and then Linda Noskova who made the semis of Prague and won Monterey. So she's probably not as much under pressure because

There are lots of other places she can gain points like the thousands in Canada and Cincinnati, but she did win a title so she would be hoping to retain her title in Monterey again this year.

those are the players that are under pressure but I think this hard court swing also provides opportunities for some players who maybe didn't play that well last year or didn't play at all so it means they essentially have a clean slate to gain points

So we start with Coco Gauff So Coco last year didn't make it.

So Coco last year on the North American Hardcourt Swing, she didn't make it to any quarters for any of those competitions. So she doesn't have a lot of points to defend. because of her early exit at Wimbledon it's given her I guess more time to prepare and she's on home soil.

And this is when she started winning her biggest titles. Like she's won Cincinnati before she won the US Open. So I think Should be confident going into this season. Then secondly, we've got Madison Keys again. She also had an early Wimbledon exit and she's on home turf, so she's had more time to prepare and she doesn't have a lot of points to defend.

she was injured for most of last year's tournaments. And I think she goes into some of these tournaments in the US Open as well with the cache of being a Grand Slam champion, which for some players doesn't mean anything, but for some players it helps to have that just in your pocket.

Then thirdly we've got Iga Swiatek Iga didn't play Canada last year so that's a thousand points she can gain if she wins a tournament. She made the semis and the quarters of Cincinnati and US Open but I think Iga always has higher ambitions and winning the title at Wimbledon can be

launching pad for the rest of the season not just this North American Hardcourt swing but for the rest of the year. then the next player I have here is doesn't have too many points to defend for the

North American swing and she goes into those at thousands as a seeded player. So that means she won't have to play the initial first round she gets a bye.

And having a bye sometimes can make it harder but can also make it easier to go through the competition because you don't have to play as much especially if you're tired. Then we've got Elena Rybakina who I think can make a push for top 10 because she didn't play Canada. She lost in the second round of Cincinnati and she played only one one match at the US Open before pulling out. So again not a lot of points for her to defend.

And think if she can go deep in a lot of these competitions, she can make a push for top 10 again.

Then the last player I've got here is Belinda Bencic which Belinda has the easiest explanation she has no points to defend and she's usually played best at US Open and likes this North American hardcore swing.

So she has all to play for.

And because of her ranking now at 20, she'll be seeded, so she won't have to play the higher ranked players until a bit further on in the competition.

That is all from me today. Thank you so much for listening. Just before I go, I will be doing an episode in the next couple of weeks called Tennis 101 for people that listen to the podcast but maybe aren't as well versed in the tennis world and don't have a lot of tennis knowledge. And for that...

If you have specific questions for me that you'd like me to answer on the podcast, please send them in, send them through via Instagram DMs. So that's at EWWT podcast. and like I've said before, I'll be launching a YouTube channel very, very soon. So there'll be some more.

Content and I'll upload the podcast episodes on there as well But thank you for your time

and I'll see you next time. Thank you. Bye.