Preview: Wimbledon: Amanda Anisimova vs. Iga Swiatek - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

A new women’s singles champion will be crowned at Wimbledon on Saturday as first-time Grand Slam finalist Amanda Anisimova faces five-time major winner Iga Swiatek in an exciting final.

Anisimova is the first American to reach the title match at SW19 since Serena Williams in 2019, while Swiatek follows in the footsteps of countrywoman Agnieszka Radwanska's 2012 achievement, with the winner becoming the eighth different champion since Williams’s consecutive titles in 2015 and 2016.

Match preview

Two years after taking a break from tennis to focus on her mental well-being and one year after failing to make it through qualifying, 23-year-old Anisimova will compete for her maiden Grand Slam title.

The 13th seed makes her way to Saturday’s final as the first women’s singles player in the Open Era to reach a Slam final a year after losing in qualifying, since Bianca Andreescu’s win at the 2019 US Open, a year after her qualifying loss in New York.

The 23-year-old, who will move into the top 10 next week regardless of her result, will fancy her chances after narrowly defeating world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, adding to her Grand Slam wins over the Belarusian after wins at the Australian and French Opens in 2019.

Thursday’s victory marked the American’s 12th grass-court win this season, after reaching the title match at Queen’s and the quarter-finals in Berlin, where she fell to Tatjana Maria’s slicing game and Liudmila Samsonova in Germany.

Aiming to improve her 12-2 grass-season record, the in-form Anisimova hopes to outsmart the Polish star and record the most significant win of her budding career.

Whisper it, but beating Swiatek in this form will be no easy feat, and no, this is not clay but grass.

Despite winning Wimbledon as a junior in 2018, much has been said about the five-time Grand Slam champion’s struggles on this surface, and the 24-year-old’s past results since her main draw debut at SW19 have highlighted those difficulties.

Swiatek had previously struggled to advance to the second week at the All England Club, exiting in the first round in 2019, and in the third round in 2022 and 2024, with 2021’s last-16 appearance in 2021 and quarter-final in 2023 the Pole’s only second-week showings.

This year, however, she has broken that pattern, despite not having won a title since her French Open victory last year.

Even her favourite surface failed to provide the usual comforts, as the five-time Slam champion failed to defend titles in Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros; the latter was particularly disappointing, with hopes of a fourth consecutive win dashed after her semi-final loss to Sabalenka in Paris.

Undeterred by that setback, rigorous training on grass in Mallorca and a run to her first grass final in Bad Homburg provided momentum for SW19.

Surely, that has been evident in the eighth seed’s performances en route to the final, especially in Thursday's straight-sets dismantling of Belinda Bencic, which demonstrated her high-level play.

Swiatek, probably given little hope after her loss to Sabalenka just over five weeks ago, is now one win away from ending a 13-month title drought, which will feel even sweeter after her previous disappointments on this surface.

Tournament so far

Amanda Anisimova:  

First round: vs. Yulia Putintseva 6-0 6-0  

Second round: vs. Renata Zarazua 6-4 6-3  

Third round: vs. Dalma Galfi 6-3 5-7 6-3  

Fourth round: vs. Linda Noskova 6-2 5-7 6-4  

Quarter-final: vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 7-6(9) 

Semi-final: vs. Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 4-6 6-4

Iga Swiatek:     

First round: vs. Polina Kudermetova 7-5 6-1     

Second round: vs. Caty McNally 5-7 6-2 6-1     

Third round: vs. Danielle Collins 6-2 6-3     

Fourth round: vs. Clara Tauson 6-4 6-1     

Quarter-final: vs. Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 7-5 

Semi-final: vs. Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-0

Head To Head

Anisimova and Swiatek will meet for the first time on the WTA Tour in Saturday’s title match, adding an element of uncertainty and intrigue ahead of their initial encounter.

Although the American’s all-or-nothing approach results in more double faults (31-15), both players have performed well on serve and return on their way to the final.

Anisimova has won 73% of first-serve points and 54% on her second serve; however, Swiatek's 80% first-serve points won have outperformed the field, and her 52% on second serves just about falls short of the 13th seed.

With Anisimova breaking her opponents 28 times and Swiatek 27, both players have demonstrated throughout the tournament their skill in seizing and capitalising on opportunities during their opponents' service games.

The Polish player, however, has only been broken six times in the entire tournament, whilst the 23-year-old American has lost her serve 12 times, highlighting an area the former world No. 1 might exploit.

While Swiatek holds a 22-5 record in title matches, she is undefeated in Grand Slam finals, with a 5-0 record, though four of those wins came on the Paris dirt.

Anisimova has a 50% success rate in title matches, winning three titles and losing as many, including her recent final defeat at Queen's last month.

We say: Swiatek to win in two sets

Although Anisimova’s powerful ball-striking could challenge Swiatek, the eighth seed has handled power opponents like Clara Tauson and Liudmila Samsonova en route to her first Wimbledon final.

The Polish star, unbeaten in five previous Grand Slam finals, is unlikely to start now, and her high-level play on serve and return is expected to secure her a sixth major at the expense of a motivated Anisimova.

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