Iga Swiatek admits she is curious to see how it feels to visit The All England Club as an honorary member, and jokes she hopes to avoid the thing that happened to Roger Federer a few years ago.
When a male or female player becomes a Wimbledon champion in singles, they get rewarded with an honorary membership - that means they are allowed to visit The All England Club whenever they want. However, due to strict rules, the members have to bring their cards with them.
This past summer, Swiatek joined the list of Wimbledon champions in the most impressive way possible after registering a 6-0 6-0 win over Amanda Anisimova in the final.
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Federer, who became a Grand Slam champion at 2003 Wimbledon, is a record eight-time champion at The Championships. But when visiting Wimbledon shortly after retiring in 2022, the Swiss tennis icon forgot his honorary membership card. It created a funny situation as the legendary Swiss was stopped by the security at the gate, before ultimately being allowed to enter The All England Club grounds.
Swiatek: I heard Federer wasn't let in once because he forgot his card
I wonder how it feels. I will be back for sure. I would love to. I have no idea how that works, though. I heard once Roger [Federer] wasnt let in when he didnt have a proper badge or something, so I would need to get ready," the 24-year-old Pole told The Guardian.
Entering this year's Wimbledon, Swiatek had been on a 13-month title drought. Now, the Polish tennis star admits she absolutely didn't think that her first title in over a year would come at The Championships. And by just winning The Championships, she considers her 2025 a big success.
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Any season that has a Wimbledon win, I would take without hesitation. Im super proud of this achievement. This is something I wasnt expecting to happen this year. I thought I [would] need a couple more years to learn how to play on grass and to use my skills for the surface. But I felt great," Swiatek said.
In the same interview, Swiatek noted that she worked with coach Wim Fissette on changing some things on the grass this year, and it paid off massively.
