LONDON: After more than two hours in court, slumped over the edge, Iga Swiatek ended his nervousness Wimbledon opener with an ace. The Pole then sank into his hall chair, buried his face in his hands and sobbed, the relief of being saved etched on the face of the defending champion.It was a gloomy start to Tuesday in south-west London. Early showers and cool air eventually gave way to bright 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 had a rough time.Swiatek exploded out of the blocks. After saving five breakpoints in his opening service game, his tennis as fresh as the blue sky above, he wrapped up the first set in just 31 minutes.Townsend, however, has no intention of losing. The world no. 79 in singles, dressed in lace and frills, with a large white bow in her hair reflecting the style of her friend Naomi Osaka, watching from the player’s box, began to weave a more subtle touch. The 30-year-old carved out a double-break lead and, after the defending champion’s 10th error of the set, stretched the advantage to 4-0. Swiatek put in a short response on his serve, but the left hand didn’t let up on his grip.Swiatek survived the nearly 20-minute opening game of the deciding set, saving four break points before holding serve. He then held his nerve to finish with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory.
Iga Swiatek became emotional after winning her first round women’s singles match against Taylor Townsend. (AP Photo)
The third seed’s father, Tomasz, and sister, Agata, sitting in the front row of the Royal Box, cheered on the Pole.“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to say a lot, it’s been a difficult couple of weeks. It’s not a season where everything goes as I want. I don’t think I’ve won any three-set matches this year, so I’m happy that I can do it here,” said the six-time major winner. His record in three-set matches this year stood at 4-12 coming into Wimbledon. “I finally kept my cool.”Swiatek, who could barely contain himself to applaud Townsend as Center Court rose to give the American a standing ovation, wasted no time living up to his hard-earned reputation as Wimbledon’s “towel thief”, stuffing match towels into his bag. The Pole, who is known for picking up as many tournament towels as possible to donate to charity and give to friends and family, admitted he didn’t keep a single one of what he collected last year.“Last year’s tactics didn’t help much because in the end I didn’t have any towels because everyone took them from me!” he roared. “Even though it went viral last year, I’m not afraid to do it again. I have to keep going.”Swiatek will face Czech Karolína Pliskova, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, in the second round.Meanwhile, last year’s runner-up 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 defeat Robin Montgomery 0-6, 6-4, 7-5.Despite the loss, Gjorcheska made history as the first player from North Macedonia to compete in the singles draw at a Grand Slam. 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 sixth seed Anisimova, who lost in last year’s final without winning a match, ensured the painful memories of that July afternoon 12 months ago are firmly behind her.