When the Ladies Singles competition at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon (London), began in 1884 the competitors were all Anglo-Saxon, mainly from Great Britain, USA, and Australia.
141 years later it's a different story.
[Image courtesy of Wikipedia]
Backstory
When the Championships started, players like Dorothea Lambert Chambers, Helen Wills Moody, Lottie Dod, Little Mo Connolly and Suzanne Lenglen were regular and multiple winners of the Venus Rosewater Dish.
They were all amateurs back then and received no prize money.
When the open era started in 1968, the game became professional. The dominant players continued to be Anglo-Saxon, although a few white Europeans also came to the fore.
Martina Navratilova, a Czech exile to the USA, won nine titles. Steffi Graf (Germany) and Serena Williams (USA) each won seven times. Serena's older sister Venus Williams won five times. Billie-Jean King (USA) four times, and Chris Evert (USA) three times.
In later years a few Europeans snaffled the odd title, including from the former Soviet Union.
Martina Navratilova [Mundo Deportivo]
2025
The Ladies quarter-final line-up this year was dominated by players with Eastern European names, several from countries like Russia and Belarus, which are excluded as a result of the illegal invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Those who have forsaken their home countries may play as "independents". Others have become citizens of other countries.
Aryna Sabalenka is from Belarus.
Amanda Anisimova is the daughter of Russian emigres and was born in the USA.
Belinda Bencic is Czech but her family left for Switzerland in 1968. She also has Slovak nationality
Iga Swiatek is Polish.
Mirra Andreeva, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Liudmila Samsonova are Russian.
Laura Siegemund is German.



Mirra Andreeva [Tennis World ES] Liudmila Samsonova [Wikipedia] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [The Independent]
My view
I think it's great that so many talented female tennis players have joined the circuit.
But, did hijo de Putin, the megalomaniac president of Russia really want that to happen?
The action of these brave people who have forsaken their homelands, just expose the stupidity of isolationist nutcases like Vladimir Putin.
Why does he think that he and his handful of allies can overcome NATO, the United Nations and the West?
This is further proof that both communism and fascism (what's the difference?) have failed.
Anyway, less of the politics.
As of this afternoon we know that the 2025 Ladies Final on Saturday will be contested by Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek.


Amanda Anisimova [Wikipedia] Iga Swiatek [WTA]
USA v Poland.
Or Eastern bloc v Eastern bloc. ("Just kidding!").
I'm supporting the Russian Yank, but I fear the Pole might be too much for her.
STOP PRESS:
Oh, dear! What a huge disappointment! 6-0, 6-0 in 57 minutes. The first double "bagel" since 1911!
Iga Swiatek played superbly and became the first ever Polish winner of the Ladies Championship at Wimbledon.
Amanda Anisimova (USA), who qualified for the final after defeating the number one seed, Aryna Sabalenka, and was in a rich vein of form, simply froze on the big occasion. I'd tipped the American to win, so it was a painful watch. Anisimova got visibly upset during the second set and broke down at the end and during the presentation.
Will she get over this? I have my doubts!


Wimbledon Ladies Champion 2025 Iga Swiatek [The Guardian] Runner-up Amanda Anisimova [Yahoo Sports]
As for Swiatek, she was thrilled to bits. Although she had already won five grand slams - four French and one US - she confessed that she would never get the hang of playing on grass. Well, she did, and in a emphatic way which has made history.
© Sporty Sam
Pictures:
Mundo Deportivo, Tennis World ES, The Independent, Wikipedia, WTA
Sources:
Wikipedia, Wimbledon, WTA
Tags:
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