Even the best tennis stars experience jaw-dropping instances in their careers, and for Iga Swiatek, one ‌such experience took place not on the tennis court, but in a hallway. World No. 3 opened up about her most memorable encounter with tennis legend Venus Williams.

Swiatek shared her story in an interview at Wimbledon and explained how their first encounter happened.

"I remember she was probably like the first person on WTA [tour]," Swiatek said during a recent interview at Wimbledon. "She literally held the door for me for like 10 seconds to walk, and I was like, wow, Venus Williams just held the door for me. I was quite surprised because she seems really calm and so experienced," Iga added.

It becomes significant because of what Venus has achieved in her career span of three decades.

She has been a seven-time winner of Grand Slam singles titles, a fourteen-time winner of Grand Slam doubles titles along with Serena, and an Olympic tennis player with a record four gold medals and one silver.

It is worth mentioning that the timing of her comments makes this story even more interesting. As Swiatek comes into the 2026 Wimbledon Championships as the reigning champion and third-seeded tennis player, winning the tournament just twelve months back with a convincing 6-0, 6-0 defeat of Amanda Anisimova in the final.

At 25 years old, Swiatek has been ranked as the world's No. 1 player for 125 weeks, the seventh-most in tennis history. She has six Grand Slam singles titles to her name.

Iga Swiatek Wimbledon Title Defense Faces Rare Historical Test

Swiatek has won the Wimbledon championship after beating Amanda Anisimova in the final of the championship. In the whole tournament, Swiatek remained flawless and lost just one set in the seven games that she played at the championship.

Defending it, though, is a different challenge entirely. "For sure, it's a tournament that creates maybe different challenges when you come back as the defending champion because of the whole thing that is happening around it," Swiatek said at her pre-tournament press conference.

So far, only five women have managed to win the Wimbledon singles championship in the Open Era, and they are Evonne Goolagong, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams.

"I think there were players that won this tournament that already have won many tournaments and Grand Slams. Why, particularly it's hard to repeat that, I have no idea," she added.

Swiatek is facing another tough year, having only achieved a record of 21-11 without any final appearances and an early exit in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the round of 16 in the French Open.

Swiatek will begin her Wimbledon title defense as the third seed, facing Taylor Townsend in the first round.

What do you think about the upcoming Swiatek Wimbledon title defense? Drop your comment below.

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Written by

Utsav Gupta

Edited by

Utsav Gupta