Iga Swiatek says she was surprised by her run to the Wimbledon final after dispatching former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic with ease in the last-four clash.
The five-time Grand Slam champion wrapped up a 6-2, 6-0 victory against her 35th-ranked opponent in just 71 minutes on Centre Court.
The Polish eighth seed is more renowned for her strength on clay, with four French Open titles among her collection of trophies.
She also won the 2022 US Open on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows.
The former world number one is just one victory away from winning on the grass of Wimbledon – her least successful Grand Slam before this year.
“Honestly, I never even dreamt that it's going to be possible for me to play in the final,” said the 24-year-old, whose previous best at Wimbledon was a run to the quarter-finals in 2023.
“So I'm just super-excited and proud of myself and I don't know, tennis keeps surprising.”
Swiatek, who faces US 13th seed Amanda Anisimova in Saturday's final, has not won a title since the French Open last year.
By not winning the French Open for the first time since 2021, Swiatek had more time to prepare on grass, and that groundwork has been paying off in style.
She denied feeling less pressure this year, saying: “I think I'm not going to have seasons where the pressure is not going to be kind of forced on me from the expectations from the outside any more.
“Every year it's kind of the same, but I feel sometimes I can handle it better or ignore it. I think it's easier if you haven't won Roland Garros and also if you had more time to practice.”
Her opponent in the final has a point to prove herself. Anisimova silenced the doubters by reaching her first Wimbledon final just two years after being warned that taking a mental health break could affect her career.
Anisimova, seeded 13th, stunned world number one Aryna Sabalenka with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win in a bruising semi-final on Centre Court.
It was a cathartic win for Anisimova, who was a rising star after reaching the French Open semi-finals aged just 17 in 2019.
The American struggled to live up to the hype after that breakthrough run at Roland Garros, which included a win over defending champion Simona Halep.
Anisimova stepped away from tennis in 2023 for her mental health following scrutiny and expectations that came with being a teen prodigy.
Immediately after returning to action last year, Anisimova dropped outside the top 400.
But she won the Qatar Open this February and showed she was comfortable on grass by reaching the Queen's Club final in June.
After reaching her first Wimbledon semi-final, Anisimova was already guaranteed to move into the top 10 in the WTA rankings for the first time next week. Now she is within touching distance of a first Grand Slam crown.
“I think it's different for everyone. I think it goes to show that it is possible,” she said.
“I think that's a really special message that I've been able to show because when I took my break, a lot of people told me that you would never make it to the top again if you take so much time away from the game.
“That was a little hard to digest because I did want to come back and still achieve a lot and win a Grand Slam one day.
“Just me being able to prove that you can get back to the top if you prioritise yourself. So that's been incredibly special to me. Yeah, it means a lot.”
