"It wasn’t pleasant" - Iga Swiatek calls out Polish media over harsh treatment & relentless scrutiny after maiden Wimbledon triumph

Iga Swiatek didn't hold back in her criticism of Polish media after winning the women's singles title at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. Swiatek faced incessant scrutiny from her home media over the last year due to her on-court inconsistency, which resulted in a lengthy barren spell without a title and a drop in her ranking.

The Pole registered her fifth Major title triumph at last year's French Open. However, from here on in, her performances suffered. In a bid to shake things up, she replaced her coach, roping in the renowned Wim Fissette. Results though, continued to be erratic for her, and her doping controversy towards the end of 2024 led to further negative talk about her in her home country.

Things pretty much continued in the same vein this year, with a series of disappointing results. At Wimbledon though, Iga Swiatek bounced back to her best, and after routing Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the final, the former No. 1 minced no words as she urged Polish media to 'leave her alone'.

"We as public people and as athletes can’t react to everything that’s going on. We’ve got to focus on ourselves. Sometimes it’s easier to do that. Sometimes it’s harder. For sure the past months, how the media sometimes described me, I gotta say, unfortunately Polish media, how they treated me and my team, it wasn’t really pleasant. I hope they will just leave me alone and let me do my job," Swiatek said.

The 24-year-old went on to lay bare her belief in her team and reflect on the stellar feats she has already achieved in her career. She further urged Polish media to give her "freedom" to pursue her career in her own way.

"Obviously you can see that we know what we’re doing. I have the best people around me. I have already proven a lot. I know people want more and more but it’s my own process and my own life and my own career. I hopefully am gonna have freedom from them to do let me do my job the way I want it," she added.

Wimbledon title 'unexpected', says Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek poses with the Venus Rosewater Dish after winning the women's singles title at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships (Source: Getty)

In her post-match, on-court interview following her dominant win over Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final, Iga Swiatek admitted that she hadn't expected to conquer the grass Major. For a long time, grass was widely regarded as the Pole's weakest surface, despite her success at SW19 as a junior.

"Honestly I didn't even dream (of winning Wimbledon) because for me it was just way too far. I feel I'm already an experienced player after winning the Slams before, but I never really expected this one," Swiatek said.

When the new WTA Tour rankings are published come Monday, July 14, Iga Swiatek will find herself back in the top three thanks to her Wimbledon heroics, only behind the second-ranked Coco Gauff and the reigning No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka.

Edited by Sudipto Pati