LONDON: After more than two hours in court, Iga Swiatek, teetering on the edge of a cliff, ended her tense Wimbledon There is an Ace at the beginning. The Pole then plopped down in his courtside seat, buried his face in his hands and sobbed, the relief of surviving appearing on the face of the defending champion.It was a sombre start for south-west London on Tuesday. The early drizzle and cold wind eventually gave way to bright afternoon sunshine. Cooler weather brings a welcome respite after last week’s heatwave. However, on Center Court, where Swiatek began her title defense against tricky American Taylor Townsend, she encountered inclement weather.Swiatek exploded. After saving five break points in the first set, her tennis was as crisp as the blue sky above her head and she won the first set in just 31 minutes.Townsend has no intention of disappearing, though. The world does not. Dressed in singles, No. 79 wore lace and ruffles and a large white bow in her hair, seemingly echoing the style of her friend Naomi Osaka, who began to weave a subtle touch as she watched from the players’ box. The 30-year-old took the lead with a double break and extended his advantage to 4-0 after the defending champion made his 10th error of the set. Swiatek responded briefly on serve, but the southpaw didn’t give up her grip.Swiatek spent nearly 20 minutes of the first set in the deciding set, saving four break points before holding serve. She then mustered up the courage to win 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
Iga Swiatek was emotional after winning her first-round women’s singles match against Taylor Townsend. (AP Photo)
The father of the third seed, Tomas, and his sister, Agata, sat in the front row of the royal box, cheering for the Pole.“I’m not sure I can say that much, it’s been a tough couple of weeks. It’s not been a season where everything has gone the way I wanted. I don’t think I’ve won any three-set matches this year, so I’m happy that I can do it here,” the six-time Grand Slam champion said. This year at Wimbledon, her three-set record is 4-12. “In the end I kept my cool.”When Center Court gave American Townsend a standing ovation, Swiatek could barely gather herself enough to applaud the American, but she wasted no chance and lived up to her hard-won reputation as Wimbledon’s “towel thief” by tucking her match towel into her bag. The Pole, who is known for donating as many race towels as she can to charity and to give to friends and family, admitted not a single towel from her collection last year was left behind.“Last year’s strategy didn’t help much because I ended up not having any towels because everyone took them away from me!” she snarled. “Even though it was popular last year, I’m not afraid to do it again. I need to do it more.”Swiatek will face 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the second round.Meanwhile, last year’s runner-up Amanda Anisimova advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over North Macedonian qualifier Lena Chocheska, while 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini defeated Robin Montgomery 0-6, 6-4, 7-5.Despite the loss, Jocheska made history by becoming the first North Macedonian player to participate in a Grand Slam singles draw. At 31, she also became the oldest woman to make her Grand Slam singles debut since 1971.Jocheska has enjoyed every moment on one of tennis’ biggest stages, but sixth-seeded Anisimova, who went without a win in last year’s final, has left her with painful memories of that July afternoon 12 months ago.
