Swiatek thrashes Anisimova 6-0 6-0 to win Wimbledon title
Polish star Iga Swiatek's habit of handing out bagels and breadsticks to her hapless rivals continued in Saturday's final as she sealed her graduation from grasscourt novice to first-time Wimbledon champion with a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of American Amanda Anisimova.
Aussie's unlikely run ends in doubles final
Rinky Hijikata was unable to double his grand slam title tally, but still described playing on Wimbledon's centre court as a 'dream come true'.
Hijikata and Dutch partner David Pel, alternates who had never spoken to each other before this tournament, started slowly in Saturday's men's doubles final, but threatened to extend the match to a deciding set before losing 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) to Brits Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash.
They are the first all-British pair to win the men's doubles title since 1936, but it is the third straight Wimbledon where at least one Brit has featured in the winning team.
Hijikata, who also made the second round of the singles, was outstanding and arguably the best player on the court, particularly in the second set. But nerves appeared to get the better of Pel, who served six double faults and dropped serve three times.
Pel's last double fault - which landed halfway up the net - handed Glasspool and Cash a crucial mini-break in the second-set tie-breaker, which gave them a 5-3 lead that they never relinquished.
It was still an incredible tournament for the Hijikata-Pel combination, who saved match points in their first- and second-round wins and dramatic semi-final, which they celebrated with rare gusto.
'It's been a crazy ride,' Hijikata said.
'It's been so much fun playing with David. He brought such a great energy on the court, and it's a dream come true to play on centre court. I'm shattered, but it was a lot of fun.'
Hijikata won the 2023 Australian Open doubles title with fellow Australian Jason Kubler.
Swiatek's dominant 57-minute rout delivered the first 6-0 opening set in a Wimbledon women's singles final in 42 years, since Martina Navratilova beat another American, Andrea Jaeger, 6-0, 6-3 in 1983.
You have to go back to 1911 to find a double-bagel scoreline in a women's final at the grasscourt major, when Dorothy Lambert Chambers did that against fellow Brit Dora Boothby to claim the fifth of her seven titles.
The last women's singles grand slam final decided 6-0, 6-0 was Steffi Graf's victory over Natasha Zvereva in barely half an hour at Roland-Garros in 1988.
Swiatek, who also conceded only two games in the semi-finals against Belinda Bencic, completed her extraordinary performance with a fittingly brilliant backhand winner that nipped the sideline as she dropped her racquet in disbelief and slumped to the court.
'It seems super surreal,' Swiatek said.
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