Iga Swiatek etched her name in the history books last month for being the first Polish woman to win Wimbledon in the Open Era. The title came at a time that was difficult for her due to the constant criticism she faced from the media and fans over her inability to make a comeback after her doping suspension last year.
However, now that these criticisms have been put to rest, she was all smiles ahead of competing at the National Bank Open (Canadian Open). She expressed joy in coming back to play and added that she was proud of her unexpected achievement last month at the Championships.
At the pre-tournament press interaction, Swiatek admitted that she won’t be disappointed even if the rest of her season goes titleless. The reason is that she didn’t expect to triumph at Wimbledon and is therefore now “really happy” with the way her season looks.
"But at least, you know I know that even if I play bad till the end of year. I'm really happy with this season. You know winning Wimbledon was just I don't know not on my list this year," said Iga Swiatek on Monday in the lead-up to her first encounter at the National Bank Open.
She will face Hanyu Guo in her first match on July 29 and is projected to face off against Madison Keys in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Iga Swiatek on feeling the bitterness of not being World No. 1

Iga Swiatek said that she initially felt bitter about losing the World No. 1 ranking to Aryna Sabalenka after spending around 75 weeks on the top. However, she added that the bitterness soon faded away as she didn't focus on her ranking and used that energy to work on training harder to improve her game.
Speaking to Polish media outlet, Sports.pl, in June 2025, she said:
"It's not like I think about it every day. My perspective doesn't change in this context. Even when I was the leader, I always said that I didn't look at the rankings. And it still is. However, when I came back in February after the Australian Open, I actually had a moment when I felt a lot of bitterness about how I lost that ranking."
She also explained how it is important to understand the dynamic nature of sports, and the competition only gets more difficult with time. Hence, Swiatek felt that lamenting on her drop in rankings was not going to benefit her in the long run.
Rightly so, weeks later, she was able to reap the rewards of her hard work at Wimbledon 2025.