LONDON: After a little more than two hours on the court, after having slipped to the brink, Iga Swiatek finished his nerve. Wimbledon opening with an ace. Poletto then sank into his court seat, buried his face in his hands and sobbed, the relief of survival etched on the defending champion’s face.It had been a gloomy start to Tuesday in south-west London. Early rain and cold winds eventually gave way to afternoon sunshine. After last week’s heat wave, the cooler conditions offered a welcome respite. On Center Court, however, where Swiatek began his title defense against tricky American Taylor Townsend, he ran into tough weather.Swiatek exploded out of the blocks. After saving five break points in her opening service game, her tennis as crisp as the blue sky above, she wrapped up the first set in just 31 minutes.Townsend, however, had no intention of disappearing. The world no. 79 in singles, dressed in lace and frills, with a large white bow in her hair that seemed to echo the style of her friend Naomi Osaka, watching from the player’s box, began to weave a more subtle touch. The 30-year-old cut a double break lead and, after the defending champion’s 10th error of the set, extended the lead to 4-0. Swiatek mounted a brief response on his serve, but the left-hander did not relinquish his grip.Swiatek survived a nearly 20-minute opening game in the deciding set, saving four break points before holding serve. He then held his nerve to close out a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory.
Iga Swiatek gets emotional after winning her first women’s singles match against Taylor Townsend. (AP Photo)
The father of the third seed, Tomasz, and the sister, Agata, sitting in the first row of the Royal Box, cheered the pole.“I’m not sure I can say that, it’s been a tough couple of weeks. It’s not a season where everything went the way I wanted. I don’t think I’ve won any three-seven matches this year, so I’m happy to be able to do it here,” said the six-time major winner. His record in three-set matches this year was 4-12 coming into Wimbledon. “Finally I kept my composure.”Swiatek, who had barely gathered herself to applaud Townsend as Center Court rose to give the American a standing ovation, wasted no opportunity to live up to her hard-earned reputation as Wimbledon’s “towel thief” by sneaking match towels into her bag. The Pole, who has become known for taking as many tournament towels as possible to donate to charity and give to friends and family, admitted that she did not get to keep a single one of those she collected last year.“Last year’s tactic didn’t really help me because I ended up with no napkins because everyone threw them away!” she roared. “Even though it went viral last year, I’m not afraid to do it again. I need to go for even more.”Swiatek will face Wimbledon 2021 runner-up KarolÃna Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the second round.Meanwhile, last year’s finalist Amanda Anisimova advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over North Macedonian qualifier Lina Gjorcheska, while 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini fought back from a set down to beat Robin Montgomery 0-6, 6-4, 7-5.Despite the defeat, Gjorcheska made history as the first player from North Macedonia to compete in the Grand Slam singles. At 31, she also became the oldest woman to make her Grand Slam singles debut since 1971.Gjorcheska enjoyed her moment on one of tennis’ biggest stages but it was sixth seed Anisimova, who lost last year’s final without winning a match, who ensured the painful memories of that July afternoon 12 months earlier were firmly behind her.
