Iga Swiatek lost just one set on her way to winning her first Wimbledon Championships.
Swiatek has not always been successful at Wimbledon, and it was actually her weakest performing major tournament before this year.
However, after reaching the final in Bad Homburg, Swiatek showcased her improved grass court game at Wimbledon.
This was concluded with Swiatek thrashing Amanda Anisimova in the final, and now one of her Wimbledon opponents has revealed what she noticed about the now six-time major champion.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesWhat Caty McNally noticed about Iga Swiatek when they played at Wimbledon
Of the players that came up against Swiatek at Wimbledon this year, Caty McNally was the only one to win a set.
When looking back on that match in an interview with Tennis Channel, McNally explained that she noticed how much better Swiatek was handling certain shots like the slice.
“It’s tough to say in that moment, you never know,” McNally said when asked if she thought Swiatek could win Wimbledon after their match. “You have to take it match by match in a Grand Slam, anything can happen. I think in the past maybe she thought or other people said that her game is not suited to grass. But boy was she playing well.
“I think just watching a lot of the matches she was serving extremely well and that was really setting her up. I feel like she was just playing really solid tennis to big targets and that was huge.
“She was never going for anything crazy but she was handling shots that maybe in the past like slices or shots where she would be a bit uncomfortable pressing her forehand.
“I feel like she did a really good job of staying calm and hitting big targets. She is so fit that she can get to every ball. I was really impressed.
“Obviously you never know what is going to happen in a final with nerves but credit to Iga, she kind of showed everyone up and told everyone I can play on every surface. That was really incredible to watch her.
“It’s obviously very cool to have the opportunity to play her in that tournament and credit to her, I think she did a great job.”
What did Iga Swiatek once achieve with Caty McNally?
McNally’s match against Swiatek at Wimbledon was not the only time they have shared a court together.
Swiatek has won both of their matches at senior level, but it was McNally who was the victor in their Roland Garros junior semifinal in 2018.
It was at that same tournament when Swiatek and McNally also played doubles together, and would actually go all the way to win the title.
This is one of two junior Grand Slam titles that Swiatek won before playing on the senior tour, with her other coming in the singles event at Wimbledon.
Just two years later, Swiatek would win Roland Garros for the first time and she is now a six-time major singles champion.