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Pat Cash explains what he’s found ‘strange’ about Wimbledon this year as he raves about Iga Swiatek

Image of Iga Swiatek posing with the Wimbledon trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova in the 2025 final, inset of Pat Cash speaking to the media ahe...
Credit: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill/Daniel Pockett
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Iga Swiatek picked up her sixth Grand Slam title with a dominant win in the 2025 Wimbledon final.

Having struggled by her lofty standards during the early months of the year, few would have predicted this turnaround from Swiatek.

However, after losing at the French Open for the first time in four years, the Pole had more time to prepare for the grass-court season, and she made it count.

Iga Swiatek reacts during her defeat to Aryna Sabalenka at the 2025 French Open
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Reaching the final of Bad Homburg on the grass, Swiatek travelled to Wimbledon intending to make a deep run at the All England Club.

Doing just that, she qualified for her first final, where Swiatek defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to clinch the title.

Reacting to Swiatek’s Wimbledon victory, former champion Pat Cash explained what he has found ‘strange’ about this year’s event.

Pat Cash gives his verdict on ‘strange’ Wimbledon where seeds were upset early

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the match, Cash was keen to praise Swiatek for her dominant victory.

“She’s an amazing athlete, a great player, and she brings something to the game that is very difficult to deal with,” he said.

“On the clay, the heavy topspin, the speed she has around the court, the intensity. It was a masterclass out there, full credit to her.”

Cash proceeded to suggest Swiatek benefited from a ‘strange’ tournament, where several big names lost during the early rounds.

“I suppose she benefited too from the seeds and some of the upsets along the way in this tournament, it’s been a strange tournament on the ladies’ side,” he said.

“I suppose the cream has risen to the top. She’s just a great player, great competitor. She’s such a professional, every little thing she does, it pays off.”

Iga Swiatek poses with the Wimbledon trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova in the 2025 Wimbledon final
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

It’s fair to say the biggest names in women’s tennis underperformed at SW19 in 2025, as just three of the top ten seeds reached the quarterfinals.

Four top-ten seeds, including world number two Coco Gauff and world number three Jessica Pegula, lost their opening matches, as the draw quickly opened up.

SeedNamePerformance
1Aryna SabalenkaSemifinalist
2Coco GauffFirst round
3Jessica PegulaFirst round
4Jasmine PaoliniSecond round
5Qinwen ZhengFirst round
6Madison KeysThird round
7Mirra AndreevaQuarterfinalist
8Iga SwiatekChampion
9Paula BadosaFirst round
10Emma NavarroFourth round
Top ten seeds’ performances at Wimbledon in 2025

The Australian was also keen to praise Anisimova for reaching the final, regardless of the result.

“Amanda [Anisimova] will learn from this experience, I’m sure she’ll come back,” said Cash.

“This is disappointing for her. We can see how sad she is. But she’s a good player, she’s had a great story, we wanted a better final, of course, but she’s a winner in her own right, maybe not today, of course, but it’s been a fantastic effort from her to overcome the things she’s had to overcome.

Amanda Anisimova wipes away tears after her defeat to Iga Swiatek at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images

“It’s a fantastic effort, she’s got to look back at that and say Iga played really, really well, the balls weren’t dropping.”

The 23-year-old will now turn her attention to the North American hard-court swing, where she is scheduled to return at the Washington Open, which begins on Monday, July 21.

Iga Swiatek moves one step closer to completing the Career Grand Slam

Swiatek has now won Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces, adding a Wimbledon title to her collection, which includes four Roland Garros wins and a US Open triumph.

All that’s missing for Swiatek is the Australian Open trophy, which she has yet to win in seven attempts.

The Pole came closest in 2025, failing to convert a match point in the semifinals, which would’ve seen her compete for the title against her biggest rival, Aryna Sabalenka.

Losing out to Madison Keys, Swiatek’s struggles in Melbourne continued, at what is now statistically her least successful Grand Slam event.

Grand SlamBest performanceLatest performanceWin/Loss recordWin %
Australian OpenSF – 2022, 2025SF – 202522-776%
French OpenW – 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024SF – 202540-393%
WimbledonW – 2025W – 202518-578%
US OpenW – 2022QF – 202420-580%
Iga Swiatek’s record at Grand Slams

She will no doubt be looking to improve her record when she returns next year, in search of a maiden Australian Open title.

The 2026 Australian Open is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 12, 2026.