The Weekly Recap: Pro Tennis at Wimbledon '25

What happened this week at Wimbledon? Who emerged victorious and took home the trophies? While we can't cover every point, here's a roundup of the championship matches to get going.  

Photo credit: Rolex.

It was only a month ago that Jannik Sinner burned three match points over Carlos Alcaraz in the final of Roland Garros, leading to a shocking defeat which rocked the tennis world and must have affect the Italian emotionally. After losing to Alexander Bublik a few weeks later in Halle, he didn't appear to be in great shape heading into the year's second slam. But a champion's best attribute is the ability to raise their level and peak when it is most important, and that's exactly what Sinner did over the past two weeks at Wimbledon.

Each match he played was an exceptional display of tennis with the exception of his round of 16 battle against Grigor Dimitrov. He was down two sets before the Bulgarian called it quite due to injury. While some dubbed it as a lucky break, others questioned if Sinner had the level to take down even higher-ranked opponents. But that he did. Next up was Ben Shelton, who he defeated in three sets. Novak Djokovic ensued, who also fell to the world #1 in an awkward encounter. But the final challenge was any player's worst nightmare---Carlos Alcaraz. While Sinner had clearly raised his level of play since earlier in the week, the Spaniard was also enjoying himself out there and winning his matches in a comfortable fashion as well. But after a hard lesson learned in the Roland Garros final, Sinner was fresh with a new game plan and hungry for revenge as the blockbuster final got going. 

Photo credit:  Rolex.

Alcaraz started well, outplaying his opponent slightly and turning the match physical. He knew Sinner had been having some elbow issues in the previous matches, and he was ready to make the encounter as hard on the body as possible. That was one of the factors that set the two apart a few weeks ago in Paris, and Alcaraz was ready to exploit any weakness shown in Sinner's game. He was running for every ball, forcing Sinner to make an error or send him sprinting for drop shots. And this won him the first set, only one break needed. 6-4 in Alcaraz's favor. But that's when the top seed adjusted. He started to play to the surface, hitting the ball with more pace and sliding into Alcaraz's shots, not letting the Spaniard mix in heavy amounts of topspin and keep him on his back foot. He worked the ball mainly on his forehand side, keeping Alcaraz farther back and incapable of mixing in unorthodox solutions. And this payed off. He sustained his level for the next three sets, and Alcaraz did not have an answer. In the end, the score was 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. And with that, Sinner has firmly confirmed he deserves to hold the #1 spot as the summer season kicks off. 

Photo credit: Rolex.

If there's any match that's hard to recap, it's probably be the final between Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova. With only 57 minutes to work with, there are just a select few ways to describe this encounter. It was a relentless showing of complete domination on Swiatek's part. A perfectly played match, and while it may not be particularly attractive to spectators, it deserves to go in the history books. Iga Swiatek did something special, and she deserves every molecule of silver in the trophy she hoisted Saturday morning. 

If you weren't following along or for some reason you haven't caught what the score of this final was, let's get straight to the point. It was a double bagel, 6-0, 6-0 destruction. While Swiatek had won her past few matches in straight sets, she hadn't found the level she played on championship day. And it was arguably the best tennis anyone has seen the Pole play. The first set was intense, with Swiatek breaking immediately to get the ball rolling. Anisimova, an American attempting to win the third straight slam for red, white, and blue, looked disappointed that she couldn't get on the board to start the battle. It wasn't the end of the world, as at only one game in there would be plenty of other opportunities for the American to break back. Except there weren't. Swiatek then served and broke again, to take the score halfway through the first. At this point, it didn't seem like the first set could belong to the American, and it didn't. Swiatek held serve twice and broke again to claim the first and get an early point up against the 13th seed. Could Anisimova regain the level she found in the semi-final against top seeded Aryna Sabalenka?

Photo credit: Rolex.

As a fresh-looking, determined Anisimova stepped out to serve in the first game of the second, everybody wondered if Swiatek's level would dwindle and the American could complete an incredible comeback. But this didn't happen. Concentration was kept, and Swiatek broke again. And again. And again. And she didn't wane on her serve either, allowing Anisimova a total of zero chances to break. Obviously, the American deserves huge credit. She's broken into the top 10 for the first time in her career and It was a tremendous moment. She had already experienced tiring battles leading up to the encounter. Swiatek on the other hand is well experienced in big moments, and was ready for what was to come. And if she can produce the kind of tennis she did on Sunday, that #1 spot and the US Open trophy will surely be up for grabs. 

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Written By Florida Tennis contributor William Turvey. Top photo credit:  Rolex.