Free of expectation and free of illness, Iga Swiatek is off to a winning start at Wimbledon.
Swiatek, the Polish world No 1, defeated Zhu Lin of China 6-1, 6-3 on Court One, allaying any lingering concerns about the illness that forced her to withdraw from last week’s Bad Homburg Open and demonstrating her growing assurance on a surface that has hitherto been something of an unsolved mystery.
That might seem an odd thing to say of a former junior Wimbledon champion, but winning is something of which Swiatek has done precious little on grass in the five years since that early career milestone. Last summer, she arrived at Wimbledon as a clear title favourite only for Alizé Cornet to end her four-month unbeaten run in the third round. But after reaching her first tour-level semi-final on grass in Bad Homburg, momentum is gathering around Swiatek as she begins her quest for a fifth grand slam title.
“Last year, I just felt like I still had this streak going,” said Swiatek, who won the French Open for the third time in four years last month. “After Roland Garros, everybody was talking about that. It was a lot on my shoulders when I got into the tournament.
“Obviously, I tried to just work through it, not really focus on that, [do] what I usually do. But it wasn’t easy, especially having just played one tournament on grass. I felt rusty mentally, because I didn’t play any matches on grass.
“I think this year is much more comfortable for me. For sure winning a grand slam this year, it feels like I kind of reached my goal. I was really kind of happy and I could celebrate after. But last year, I just felt more expectation. I think that’s the difference.”
There was certainly a measure of expectation as Swiatek took on Zhu, the world No 34 and highest ranked non-seed in the draw. For much of the first set, Zhu’s game plan was limited to trading blows down the centre of the court. There was early promise for the 29-year-old when she held a break point in the first game, but directing the ball into Swiatek’s strike zone, rather than testing her movement and timing on a surface where she remains on a learning curve, seemed counter-intuitive. That impression only hardened as the Pole outrallied Zhu to stave off the danger, before reeling off the next 11 points to take a 3-0 lead.
Zhu has spoken of the epiphany she had at last year’s Guadalajara Open when, after playing a closely contested match against Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, the penny finally dropped that she was good enough to hold her own with the world’s best. Yet she came away from that match with just three games. If she was to avoid a similar fate against Swiatek, Zhu needed a better strategy.
Change was slow to come, however. By the time Swiatek had won five games without reply, she was plainly enjoying herself, a spectacular but harmless slip aside. After a point in which she raced to pick up a drop shot, leapt athletically to scramble back a high backhand volley and then narrowly failed to improvise a half-volley, the Polish top seed offered a quiet smile. It was a far cry from last year’s anguished exit to Cornet – and a sure sign that the 22-year-old has benefited from the three matches she played in Bad Homburg.
Some crashing returns from Swiatek brought up two set points. She is no fan of jokes about Iga’s Bakery, a reference to the number of 6-0 and 6-1 sets – bagels and breadsticks, in tennis parlance – that she tends to win. As she pointed out at Roland Garros, she finds such talk disrespectful to her opponents. A bagel nonetheless looked likely to be served.
Zhu, though, had other ideas. She unloaded on a backhand, followed a drop shot with a lovely backhand pass, and a couple of points later, with half an hour gone, she was finally on the scoreboard.
As she belatedly began varying her patterns from the baseline, Zhu started to look more threatening. Chinese fans affectionately call her “the Playwright”, a nod to her habit of becoming embroiled in three-set dramas, and briefly an unlikely plot twist looked possible. Having held to love at the start of the second set, she was unexpectedly handed two break points when Swiatek was foot-faulted on a second serve. The Pole saved the first with a fine first serve, but her next delivery was a touch short and Zhu could perhaps have done more with the return. It would prove Zhu’s best opportunity of the afternoon.
Having moved within two games of victory, Swiatek added another layer of experience to her grass-court education as rain temporarily forced the players off. On the resumption of play, she completed the job with the clinical efficiency of a seasoned Wimbledon campaigner.
“It was a really solid performance from me, so I’m happy that I could just play my game and be in the rhythm, even though it was the first round,” said Swiatek, who will face Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Italy’s Martina Trevisan, in round two.
“I haven’t experienced a suspended match, then coming back after just like 15 minutes. I wanted to see how it was going to go. I’m happy that it went well and I could close it.”