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The Base Line: Sinner gets his redemption as Swiatek confirms her greatness

Sinner and Swiatek with their trophies from Wimbledon
Sinner and Swiatek with their trophies from WimbledonHANDOUT / Getty Images via AFP
Our regular tennis feature, The Base Line, returns this week as we look to keep you up to date with the relentless and fast-paced nature of the ATP and WTA Tours. Who were crowned champions, who struggled to make an impact, and what moments stood out the most over the past seven days?

Winners of the tournament

After a fortnight of fabulous tennis in the scorching (but rare) London sun, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek were crowned Wimbledon champions.

Starting with Sinner, the Italian rebounded from his utterly heartbreaking defeat in the French Open final to Carlos Alcaraz by exacting revenge against the Spaniard, ruthlessly beating him 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the showpiece event on Sunday.

It is Sinner's fourth Grand Slam and his first at Wimbledon, while also being his first not on the hard courts, signifying that he does have several strings to his bow. He has now won three of the last four Slams and four of the last seven, confirming his status as the world number one.

To bounce back from that Paris defeat shows just how cold-blooded and iron-willed Sinner is, and he was magnificent against Alcaraz, with his relentless and powerful hitting taking time away from him on the slick grass, and his fierce rival was just unable to bring his A-game. Sinner is a true champion.

The 23-year-old also had his fair share of luck, going two sets down to Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round before his opponent had to retire with an injury. Sinner may have come back and won that match, but he made the most of his opportunity, swatting aside Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic in the following rounds.

He is now just a French Open away from completing the career Grand Slam.

For Alcaraz, his 24-match winning run came to an end, and there would be no Wimbledon three-peat, losing for the very first time in a Slam final. He has plenty to be proud about after his performances in the last few months, but he wasn't able to pull off another Houdini escape act and just isn't able to maintain the same unabating consistency in a match as Sinner is.

Over on the women's side, Swiatek clinched her sixth Grand Slam title and also her first at Wimbledon, defying all expectations and the form guide as she obliterated Amanda Anisimova in the final 6-0, 6-0 - the first double-bagel Wimbledon final since 1911!

The Pole hadn't won a tournament since last year's Roland Garros, and she was having a bit of an iffy year by her incredibly high standards.

Swiatek has often struggled on the grass and has never really been a factor at Wimbledon, but she turned up to the All England Club this year in some form after reaching the Bad Homburg final, and she just looked so comfortable this time around.

She moved around the court well, and her serve was much improved. She looked back to her best as she dropped just two games in her semi-final and final combined, winning three straight sets 6-0.

It was utterly imperious and stunning from Swiatek, and even she seemed shocked by how good she was! 

If her greatness wasn't already obvious, she has truly confirmed it now, and the next question is, where will she end on the all-time list?

She now has more Slams than Maria Sharapova and is one away from the great Venus Williams.

Meanwhile, it was a devastating way to end the tournament for Anisimova. She had been one of the stories of Wimbledon, beating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling semi-final and truly showing that she is going to be a factor at Slams in the future.

However, she froze in the final and just couldn't bring anything close to her best tennis. And the worst person to freeze against is Swiatek, who is the ultimate frontrunner and showed no mercy.

But considering where she was a year ago, and everything she has gone through off the court, it was such an amazing fortnight for the first-time Slam finalist, and she will learn so much from the experience. She will be back.

Strugglers of the tournament

The opening few days of Wimbledon were absolutely remarkable, as a record 36 seeded players were dumped out by the end of the second round! Eight top-10 seeded players were also sent packing in the first round - the most in the Open era.

French Open champion Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng, Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune all lost in the first round, while home favourite Jack Draper and Jasmine Paolini suffered shock second-round losses.

It was a mad start to the tournament, and it showcases just how difficult and unique a surface grass is. The sharp turnaround from the end of the clay season, coupled with the fact that the grass season is so short, also makes that doubly difficult.

The heat must have caught the players off guard, too, with searing temperatures of over 30 degrees at the very start of the tournament. All these factors combined led to a Grand Slam full of upsets.

Moment of the tournament

Swiatek seemed very relaxed and in good spirits throughout the tournament, and following her third-round win over Danielle Collins, she revealed that she was craving a traditional Polish dish: strawberries and pasta.

As you can imagine, everyone was flabbergasted.

"Why is it such a big thing? Everybody should eat that," Swiatek said.

"I think in summer, kids are eating it a lot. I don't know. It's just a perfect mix of tastes."

It started to become a bit of a running joke throughout the tournament, with presenters giving it a go, often struggling to make it through a single bite.

It certainly won't be something I will be trying anytime soon...

Rallies of the tournament

After a brilliant two weeks, there were so many rallies to choose from. However, a pair of typical Corentin Moutet trick shots, freakish athleticism from 38-year-old Djokovic, and an out-of-this-world running forehand winner from Sinner were impossible to ignore.

Upcoming events

The grass court season is done, but the action quite literally never stops in the world of tennis.

The WTA Tour heads to the clay courts of Hamburg and Iasi, with Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elina Avanesyan the top seeds, respectively.

On the ATP Tour, proceedings also move to clay. Francisco Cerundolo leads the pack at Bastad, while Casper Ruud and Alexander Bublik headline Gstaad. There is also a hard-court tournament in Los Cabos, with Andrey Rublev the top seed.

Check out the draws from Hamburg, Iasi, Bastad, Gstaad and Los Cabos.

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