Swiatek hoists ITF World Champion trophy hours after Wimbledon triumph
It may have been a night of celebration, but Iga Swiatek was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the morning after her maiden Wimbledon triumph, and very happy to receive her 2024 ITF World Champion presented by UNIQLO award.
The ITF are presenting players with their 2024 ITF World Champion accolades, which are given to the most outstanding competitors each year, at prominent and meaningful locations throughout the season.
As a reminder, Swiatek narrowly edged out year-end No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to become women’s World Champion having previously received the honour in 2022 – a year in which she claimed two Grand Slam titles.
During 2024, Swiatek was crowned women’s singles champion for the fourth time at Roland Garros and won four WTA 1000 titles, while she saved some of her best performances for when representing her nation.
Warsaw-born Swiatek won a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event before leading Poland to the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals, where they lost to eventual champions Italy, in Malaga.
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“I have just received my 2024 ITF World Champion trophy, I am super happy about it,” said Swiatek. “It was a year with many ups and downs and some great results. To sum it up with this trophy is really special, and really it motivates me to work even harder.”
Swiatek was in clinical form during the past fortnight as she claimed her sixth Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, while she also revealed that her favourite meal is pasta with strawberries.
That would not be to everybody’s taste, but it certainly fuelled her title charge as she claimed the women’s singles title in merciless fashion, defeating Amanda Anisimova of the United States in final, 6-0 6-0, in just 57 minutes.
"It seems surreal," added Swiatek. "Honestly, I didn't even dream of winning Wimbledon. I feel like I'm an experienced player, having won other Slams, but I didn't expect this."
Swiatek's SW19 triumph came seven years after she was crowned Wimbledon girls’ champion, while she and Anisimova had never previously met at professional level, only in junior tennis.
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The pair met during the 2016 Billie Jean King Cup Junior Finals in Budapest. On that occasion, which happened to be the final, Swiatek defeated Anisimova in the second singles match of a tie ultimately determined by doubles.
Swiatek being a Junior Grand Slam champion and she and Anisimova competing in international competition at 16-and-under level should provide enormous motivation to junior players across the world.
Australia’s Emerson Jones and Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway were the junior ITF World Champions in 2024, but there are many other aspiring players bidding to follow in the footsteps of someone like Swiatek.
Junior Grand Slams and competitions like Billie Jean King Cup Juniors are pivotal to the development of talented young players – the stars of tomorrow – which, in essence, is the player pathway in operation.
For now, however, the plaudits belong to Swiatek and her first taste of Wimbledon success at professional level could well put her in contention to be named an ITF World Champion in 2025.