Defending champion Iga Swiatek defeated Karolina Pliskova to reach the third round of Wimbledon.
Swiatek beat Pliskova 6-1, 6-3 as she looks to become the first woman for a decade to retain the Wimbledon crown, winning the first set in 25 minutes.
The pole has reached the last 32 stage at 26 successive Grand Slam tournaments, a record in which she’s only behind Martina Navratilova and Conchita Martinez.
“I’m feeling more stable today — and that’s good. The first round was really emotional for sure,” Swiatek, who was pushed to three sets in her opener by Taylor Townsend, said on court. “Today I felt like it was another day in the office.”
“Even when she was playing fast and flat, I knew that my spin gives me control.”
Pliskova, who’s the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, showed flashes of powerful shots as she occasionally managed to push Swiatek out of her comfort zone. She led 2-0 at the start of the second set, but double-faults gave Swiatek successive service breaks.
“I felt like I played so many dirty shots in that final game especially, I wasn’t able to control them that much,” she said. “So maybe not A+, more like B, I would say.”
Swiatek will next face seed no. 29 Alexandra Eala, who beat Maya Joint 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.
“She has a tricky game. I can assume that on grass it’s even more tricky because of the surface,” Swiatek said. “I will prepare, and I’ll be ready.”
Elsewhere, a showdown between two Americans, Amanda Anisimova and Sofia Kenin, was won by Anisimova.
Anisimova showed her resilience as she beat Kenin 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3) to advance to the third round.
Anisimova struggled to stop the barrage of unforced errors off her racquet. She tried to get out of the rut the only way she knew how — by yelling out her frustrations. It seemed to help as she broke through the tie-break when Kenin netted a service return.
“Some moments were really awful. I’m just happy to be through to the next round,” said Anisimova, whose title dreams were almost dashed by the 46 unforced errors she produced during the two-hour duel.
“I never thought I’d say this but thank you to my serve. I’m not a good server at all but after today, I can say that I am,” she added smiling.
“I’m really happy with my performance, especially with the end. Shout out to Sofia; she’s such a good opponent, a real fighter. I was down and told myself to keep fighting. I really tried to bring myself back to the present moment. I try to remind myself – have fun, you’re playing at Wimbledon. These are the matches I train for, the tough ones, the fun ones.”
She will next face another compatriot in the third round, Madison Keys, to seal a place in the fourth round.
(Inputs sourced from Reuters)
