Wimbledon’s remarkable run of first-time champions continues
Iga Swiatek made it eight different first-time winners of the women’s singles title in the last eight Championships.
Iga Swiatek’s 6-0 6-0 defeat of Amanda Anisimova made her the eighth different women’s singles champion at Wimbledon since Serena Williams claimed her second consecutive victory and seventh in total in 2016.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at the previous seven champions.
2017 – Garbine Muguruza
Spaniard Muguruza avenged her 2015 final defeat by Serena Williams and won her second grand slam title with a straight-sets win over 37-year-old five-time champion Venus Williams.
Muguruza, 23, saved two set points in the first set and won the last nine games in a 7-5 6-0 victory under the Centre Court roof.
2018 – Angelique Kerber
German 11th seed Kerber spoiled Serena Williams’ comeback as a new mother with a 6-3 6-3 success.
Williams had been the favourite despite competing in only her fourth tournament since giving birth to her daughter Olympia the previous September but Kerber, 30, added Wimbledon to her 2016 Australian Open and US Open crowns.
2019 – Simona Halep
Williams reached the final again, her 11th appearance, but this time ran into 2018 French Open champion Halep.
The Romanian, 27, won 6-2 6-2 in only 56 minutes in front of a stunned Centre Court crowd and afterwards admitted it was her “best match”.
2021 – Ashleigh Barty
With no Championships held in 2020 due to Covid, Australia’s Barty took the next title by edging out Karolina Pliskova 6–3 6–7 (4) 6–3.
Barty never played at Wimbledon again, announcing her retirement from the sport the following March, as world number one, aged 25.
2022 – Elena Rybakina
Wimbledon had banned Russians from the Championships due to the Ukraine invasion but Moscow-born 17th seed Rybakina claimed the title under the flag of Kazakhstan.
The 23-year-old hit back from dropping the first set to beat third seed Ons Jabeur 3-6 6-2 6-2, becoming the youngest winner since Petra Kvitova in 2011.
2023 – Marketa Vondrousova
Jabeur reached the final again but the popular Tunisian was left heartbroken after 24-year-old Vondrousova became the first unseeded player to win the women’s title.
The Czech won 6-4 6-4 to leave sixth seed Jabeur, 28, in tears after her third defeat in a grand slam final.
2024 – Barbora Krejcikova
Another surprise Czech champion, 31st seed Krejcikova won a gripping final against Italian Jasmine Paolini 6–2 2–6 6–4.
An emotional victory meant Krejcikova, 28, emulated her late friend and coach Jana Novotna, who won the title in 1998.