The first singles title will be won at Wimbledon this year on Saturday when the ladies final takes place on Centre Court as Amanda Anisimova goes up against Iga Swiatek for the third Grand Slam trophy of the season.
We are guaranteed a new name on the roll of honour as neither of these players have won the Wimbledon title before. Swiatek is no stranger to winning Grand Slams while Anisimova is looking for her first major tournament win. This final is wonderfully set up.
Amanda Anisimova
When you consider her pre-tournament odds it could be considered a surprise that Amanda Anisimova has made it all thr way to this final but when you consider her talent rather than her ranking, and the fact that she made the final at Queens last month, her run to this title showdown probably isn’t quite as big a shock as it might have looked. There have been times where the American has been put under pressure this week but whereas in the past she may have wilted, here she has elevated her game to take her place in this final. She will hope she has one more decent, aggressive performance in her as they would give her every chance here.
The American hasn’t had it easy in this tournament. She had the toughest draw she could have had in Yulia Putintseva in the first round, although she brushed her away, and since then she had to face competent grass court players in Linda Noskova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before running into the number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final. That was her toughest test but she managed that challenge well, coming through in three tough sets and you get the impression she is ready to win a tournament of this magnitude. At the very least we should expect her to be hard to beat.
Iga Swiatek
The former world number one Iga Swiatek arrived at Wimbledon with a pretty average record in the tournament, and up until Bad Homburg in the lead up to the event, on grass, however she has overcome that to take her place in this final, displaying the sort of tennis that we had become accustomed to seeing from her on other surfaces. She looks to have more time on the ball than in previous years and has taken full advantage of that to book her place in this final. Her experience in major finals makes her the favourite in this match.
Swiatek has had a mixed draw so far in this tournament. She hasn’t had that standout opponent like Aryna Sabalenka and her draw has largely opened up for her but she did have to see off some dangerous challenges in the form of Danielle Collins and Liudmila Samsonova, both of whom have a similar, heavy hitting ground game like Anisimova so they would have prepared the Pole well for the battle she is going to face in this final.
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Head-to-head
Usually in a Grand Slam final we have a head-to-head record to dissect and use to favour one player or the other. That isn’t the case in this match though because this will be the first meeting between Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek so we can expect a little bit of sparring in the early stages of the contest.
Betting
Those who have followed our bets throughout the course of the season will be sitting pretty going into this final because we are on Amanda Anisimova to win this match at 33/1 as we backed her before a ball was struck in this tournament. With the place money secured I am happy to let that ride in a clash where I actually think the American has a better chance than the odds would suggest as long as she can settle early on.
I do think that this will be a fairly lengthy final though. I don’t see either having come this far only to wilt and not offer anything up and the title is so craved that it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if more than one attempt to get over the line is needed before the job gets done. Anisimova has had to go to a deciding set in three of her last four matches and a tiebreak in the second set of the other. Swiatek isn’t going to go away lightly so I like over 20.5 games here.
Tips
Back Over 20.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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