A self-confessed introvert, Iga Swatek does not relish being the focus of attention.
As the defending Wimbledon champion, however, that is the role the 25-year-old has found herself in since she arrived in SW19 last week, and she has appeared faintly bemused by the accompanying pageantry. No doubt that is partly because she always regarded the prospect of winning the tournament as “impossible”. How can you be prepared for something you never envisaged happening in the first place?
Happen it did, however, and having trounced Amanda Anisimova to win the tournament last summer, it fell to Swiatek to honour the tradition whereby the returning champion opens the Centre Court programme on the first Tuesday.
On the eve of the fortnight, Swiatek said she would be keeping her expectations low – as well she might, after a chequered season in which she has slipped to third in the rankings, lost an opening round match for the first time in 74 outings in Miami, and failed to win a title. Yet, with the sense of occasion underlined by the presence of her father and sister in the Royal Box, there was no prospect of going under the radar as she faced Taylor Townsend.
Never mind that an unkind draw that may yet pit her against the likes of Serena Williams, Elina Svitolina and Elena Rbakina; in Townsend, a 30-year-old American ranked second in the world in doubles, the Polish third seed faced an opponent possessed of the pedigree and skills to test her at the first hurdle. So it proved.
How Iga Swiatek narrowly avoided an unwanted record
For two hours and two minutes, momentum flitted back and forth. Swiatek frequently seemed closer to disaster than triumph. Defeat would have bestowed upon the six-time grand slam winner the dubious distinction of joining Steffi Graf and the suspended Marketa Vondrousova as only the third defending champion in the open era to lose in the opening round. Small wonder, then, that her 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory exacted an emotional toll that was plain to see as she sat weeping into a towel afterwards.
“For sure it’s not easy to come back as a defending champion, so I’m happy that I got through the match,” said Swiatek, who began the afternoon in near immaculate fashion only to end it with a tally of 36 unforced errors that included nine double faults.
“I think the whole process of opening on [Centre Court] and playing as the defending champion is for sure really emotional. Last year, probably the most amazing thing in my whole tennis career happened here, so I felt it also today. It was a mix of different emotions. Overall, I’m happy that I got to win and I can have another chance to play on this court.”
That opportunity will now come in the next round against the Czech former finalist Karolina Pliskova, but at times it was touch and go. Swiatek admitted in her on-court interview that nerves got the better of her in the second set, but expressed satisfaction that she was able to recover her game in the decider.
“These are the moments that you feel you did the job,” she said, “because it is not hard when everything goes your way and you are so confident that everything goes in.”
How did Taylor Townsend run Iga Swiatek so close?
Townsend’s assertive approach to the contest limited Swiatek’s ability to establish that confidence. Time is at a premium on a grass court, and it was clearly the American’s intention to ensure her opponent enjoyed as little of it as possible. It is no secret that the Pole can be vulnerable from the back of the court when rushed, and Townsend’s tactic of adopting a highly aggressive return position, often a foot or more inside the baseline, served to maximise the champion’s discomfiture.
Smoking her returns, Townsend fashioned five break points in Swiatek’s opening service game. Swiatek saved them all and, having held from 15-40, went on to snatch an immediate break of her own. Another soon followed, Swiatek forcing a volleying error with a dipping return. With barely half an hour played she was, emphatically, on her way.
At a set down, Townsend was facing a tactical puzzle. She had the makings of an effective strategy, but unforced errors – 11 in the first set, versus a miserly four from Swiatek – were making it hard to implement. It did not help that she was landing a relatively modest 60% of her first serves at that stage, limiting her ability to play the match from the net, and therefore on her own terms. It invited Swiatek to make hay on the return, and the Pole accepted that gift gleefully, limiting the American to a meagre 30% of points behind her second delivery.
With the tactical clarity of Townsend’s early efforts becoming a distant memory, the dawn of a new set brought a chance to reset. This time, she made no mistake. Nailing a return to force a Swiatek error, Townsend claimed an instant break that fed her conviction. Committed once more to her front-foot approach, she began to defend with greater resilience and showcase her proficiency at the net, picking off volleys behind knifed approach shots. It was Swiatek’s turn to wobble.
The numbers behind Iga Swiatek’s second-set dropoff
The numbers reflected the extent of the turnaround. Having won six of 13 net points in the first set, Townsend claimed 13 of 16 in the second. Her seven unforced errors were fewer than half Swiatek’s 16, while her success rate behind the second serve soared to an impressive 70%. By the time Swiatek left the court for a comfort break with the match level at a set apiece, it was the Pole who had all the thinking to do. Her analysis later made for fascinating listening.
“I felt that at the beginning of the second set, Taylor kind of pushed a little harder, she went to the net more successfully, compared to some volleys she missed in the first set.,” said Swiatek. “There are always two people playing, you know; if she didn’t push, then maybe I wouldn’t make these mistakes.
“I felt like at the end of the second set it was a more even game – it’s not like I was playing stupid – so I had something to be positive about. I went into the third set knowing that now we start from the beginning.”
And what a beginning it was. For 21 minutes the players toiled, Swiatek alternately shooting herself in the foot with double faults, of which she produced three, before training her sights on Townsend. The Pole eventually won the absorbing battle of wills, staving off four break points – one with a 104mph second serve – to secure a vital hold. She won her next two service games to love and, following an exchange of breaks midway through the set, a forehand pass handed her a second break that she would not relinquish.