Grand Slam finals are usually a theater of nerves, where champions rise through fire and fans crave a thriller. But this year’s Wimbledon final broke the mold. Iga Swiatek stepped onto Centre Court and unleashed a performance so ruthless, so unrelenting, it left no room for drama: just domination. Her 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Amanda Anisimova stunned the tennis world. Anisimova, who had slayed Sabalenka in the semis, was nowhere close to the force she had been. Was it clinical? Cold-blooded? Absolutely. And now, Iga has finally pulled back the curtain on her mindset behind the brutality.

Swiatek broke to love in the very first game, setting the tone with icy precision as Amanda Anisimova battled her nerves under the weight of a Grand Slam final. The eighth seed didn’t face a single break point, landing 21 of 29 first-serve points and dominating five of eight on her second. The message was clear: she wasn’t there to dance; she was there to conquer.

With this win, Swiatek’s Slam final record grows even more fearsome: six titles, just one set lost. The 6-0, 6-0 masterpiece marked the first double bagel in a major final since Steffi Graf’s iconic 1988 French Open win. Now with the dust settled, the Polish ace has finally opened up about her relentless mindset behind the carnage.

In a revealing conversation with Przegląd Sportowy Onet, Iga Swiatek was asked if she ever thought her Wimbledon final win was too brutal. Her answer? Candid and cutthroat. “I didn’t even want to consider the option of slowing down and letting her get into the match,” she declared, her desire to dominate plain as daylight. For Swiatek, mercy has no place on Centre Court when history is at stake.

She later doubled down on her ruthless mindset: “You give up a game, lose the other and it gets nervous. There is something else, winning consecutive games, and closing the set and the match is something else. It’s always difficult, and I just wanted to end it, I cared too much about this win.” It wasn’t just a match; it was a mission she refused to compromise.

What makes this victory even more powerful is the storm Swiatek weathered in the past year. Since lifting the French Open title in 2024, she hadn’t reached a single final, slipping to world No. 8, her lowest ranking since March 2022. Her Olympic heartbreak in Paris, where she broke down for “six hours” after a painful semi-final loss, and a shock TMZ doping contamination case later that year that led to a brief one-month ban, would have crushed most. But Swiatek, hardened by setbacks, came back breathing fire.

In the past few years, Iga’s lopsided wins have earned a nickname, “Iga’s bakery”, thanks to the sheer number of bagels she dishes out. With 32 6-0 sets now to her name at Grand Slam events, including three at this year’s Wimbledon alone, the moniker is no fluke. And yes, the American on the receiving end this time, Amanda Anisimova, had no answers under pressure.

Nerves got the better of Anisimova, who coughed up 28 unforced errors and five double faults, a stat line that couldn’t stand up against Swiatek’s clean 11 errors. “I’ve struggled with my serve, as most people probably can tell by the looks of it and the statistics,” Anisimova admitted after the loss, her first Grand Slam final ending in heartbreak.

But while Swiatek has now proven herself beyond the clay and taken Wimbledon by storm, whispers around her and Jannik Sinner, both 2025 champions and both previously involved in doping-related controversy, have surfaced. Yet as the noise builds, one former Aussie legend has stepped forward, blasting back at the critics with cold, hard facts to defend the sport’s newest giants.

Pat Cash defends Iga Swiatek amid doping accusations

In just 57 minutes, Iga Swiatek dismantled Amanda Anisimova to seize the 2025 Wimbledon crown. But behind that Centre Court dominance lies a stormy past. Her journey to the top wasn’t paved with perfection, far from it. From high-profile coaching changes and a painful title drought to an emotional drop in rankings and the heartbreaking loss of a loved one, Swiatek’s road was brutal. And then came the bombshell, a positive doping test just ahead of the 2024 Cincinnati Open. What followed was a tidal wave of backlash, a provisional suspension, and a shadow that loomed large during the China and Wuhan Opens.

Speaking out about her one-month ban earlier this year, Swiatek didn’t shy away from the truth. “The second half of last year was extremely challenging for me, especially due to the positive doping test and how circumstances completely beyond my control took away my chance to fight for the highest sport goals at the end of the season.” In her words, it was a time that forced her to “rearrange certain things within herself.”

Now, just when it looked like her triumph at Wimbledon might finally bury the past, the controversy has risen again. Discussions surrounding her doping incident have resurfaced, threatening to overshadow her hard-earned glory. But this time, Swiatek isn’t alone in the line of fire, men’s champion Jannik Sinner, too, faced a doping storm and served a three-month ban earlier this year.

Tennis great Pat Cash has had enough of the finger-pointing. In a passionate Instagram post, he fired back at the haters: “I’ve heard a lot of things on social media about ‘doping cheaters’ winning Wimbledon, but it’s kind of sad that it’s still going on. Światek and Sinner were found to be using a certain substance. However, it wasn’t a performance-enhancing drug. […] They don’t cheat.”

So, the question remains: when does redemption begin, and when does criticism cross the line? Tell us what you think below.