Wimbledon Iga Swiatek starts strong

(Wimbledon) The world No.1 Iga Swiatek, whose grass is not the preferred surface, nevertheless started her Wimbledon tournament strong on Monday with a 6-1, 6-3 victory in 1:20 against China’s Lin Zhu (34^e).

“I feel confident, I did a good job,” savored the 22-year-old Polish.

Liu was the highest ranked player Swiatek could face in the first round as the first non-seeded player.

The match between Swiatek and Liu was interrupted for a few minutes by the rain while the Pole led 4-3 in the second set, the time to close the roof of the N.1 court. When it resumed, she quickly closed the debates.

Swiatek, who has never exceeded 8^are final on the London lawn and who lost in the third round last year, will face this year in the second round the Italian Martina Trevisan (64^e) or the Spaniard Sara Sorribes (84^e).

The Pole, winner at Roland-Garros in 2020, 2022 and 2023 as well as at the 2022 United States Open, is one of the favorites for Wimbledon this year, alongside defending champion Elena Rybakina (3^e worldwide) and Aryna Sabalenka (3^e).

Barbora Strykova, first qualified for the second round

Barbora Strykova, semi-finalist in 2019 and fall to 623^e world rank, was the first player of the 2023 edition to qualify for the second round, defeating the Belgian Maryna Zanevska (88^e) 6-1, 7-5.

In the next round, the 37-year-old Czech, who had reached 16^e rank of the WTA in 2017, will face the Polish Magda Linette (24^e) or the Swiss Jill Teichmann (121^e).