LONDON: After more than two hours on the court, settled on the sidelines, Iga Swiatek got over his fears. Wimbledon opener and ace. Then Poleyo sank down in his court chair, put his face in his hands and wept, the relief of survival settled on the hero’s face.It was a tragic start on Tuesday in south west London. An early storm and cool weather made the sun shine brightly. After last week’s heat, the coolness provided a welcome relief. On Center Court, where Swiatek started his defense against the tricky American Taylor Townsend, he faced a tough weather.Swiatek exploded out of the blocks. After saving five sets in her opening match, her tennis as smooth as the sky above, she finished the first set in just 31 minutes.Townsend, however, had no intention of disappearing. Country No. 79 in singles, wearing lace and frills, with a big white bow in her hair, she seemed to be repeating the style of her friend Naomi Osaka, watching from the box player, began to twist to touch the clever. The 30-year-old made it two breaks and, after the defender’s 10th error, extended the lead to 4-0. Swiatek responded briefly to his duties, but the left-hander didn’t stop catching.Swiatek survived the opening match for about 20 minutes in the deciding round, saving four breaks before serving. He then held his nerve to close out a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory.
Iga Swiatek was emotional after winning her first women’s championship against Taylor Townsend. (AP Photo)
The father of the third seed, Tomasz, and his sister, Agata, sitting in front of the Royal Box, raised the tree.“I don’t know if I can talk too much, it’s been a difficult few weeks. Not a season where everything went the way I wanted. I don’t think I’ve won any three games this year, so I’m happy that I can do it here,” the six-year-old major winner said. His record in three matches this year stood at 4-12 coming into Wimbledon. “Finally I kept quiet.”Swiatek, who hadn’t gathered himself enough to praise Townsend when Center Court rose to cheer the American, didn’t miss the opportunity to live up to his hard-earned reputation as Wimbledon’s “towel thief”, putting match towels in his bag. Pole, who is known for collecting as many towels as possible to donate to friends and family, admitted that he didn’t keep a single one of his collection last year.“Last year’s procedures didn’t really help because I stopped having towels because everyone took them from me!” he scoffed. “Even though it went well last year, I’m not afraid to do it again. I have to go more.”Swiatek will face Czech KarolÃna Pliskova, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist, in the second round.Meanwhile, last year’s finalist Amanda Anisimova scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory over North Macedonia’s Lina Gjorcheska, while 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini struggled 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 a Grand Slam. At 31, she also became the oldest woman to make her Grand Slam debut since 1971.Gjorcheska enjoyed her time on one of the biggest stages of tennis, but it was Anisimova, the sixth seed, who lost last year’s final without winning a match, who confirmed that the painful memory of July evening 12 months ago was behind her.
