That was what the second round encounter between 20-year-old Iga Swiatek and the Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva on No.2 Court promised: a meeting, somewhere in the middle, of two players on opposing but stellar career trajectories on the Grand Slam stage.
Contrary to predictions that this could be a testy three-setter, this first meeting between the pair proved to be mesmerising to watch for the way in the which the young Pole – the No.7 seed, the 2020 Roland-Garros champion but a self-professed ingenue on grass (despite winning the 2018 Wimbledon girls’ singles title) – totally outplayed the former world No.2.
With a 6-1, 6-3 victory, clinically wrapped up in 62 minutes, the meeting point on their two career paths clearly bears a signpost indicating great things for Swiatek. Despite her early reservations, she and grass are getting along just fine.
“Every match gives me the opportunity to have more and more confidence, so I’m pretty happy with my performance today," she said. "Playing such an experienced player is never easy, so I didn’t know what to expect at the beginning because she has many years of playing on grass, and I only have two years basically. I’m just beginning, but I wanted to play really powerfully and I did that, so I am pretty happy.”
Deploying her awesome forehand with aggression, Swiatek sent Zvonereva scurrying all over the court from the off, claiming a break after only 10 points played. She may have been the junior by 16 years, but she showed astonishing maturity in constructing each point and executing a killer finish.
The Russian has not featured in the Top 10 since 2012, but she brings to the lawns here experience garnered from being a 2010 Wimbledon singles finalist (losing to a dominant Serena Williams) and a 2006 mixed doubles champion. On grass, she has also claimed a title in Birmingham, back in 2006 – when Swiatek was five years old.
All this knowhow was neutralised by the Pole, who was on a mission to wrong-foot and keep her opponent off balance. Playing free of expectation, with her serve firing well and a double break under her belt, Swiatek steamrolled through the first set in 26 minutes.
Comebacks have featured often in Zvonareva’s career. She has battled her way back inside the Top 100 after an injury-blighted career and also happy absences in which she married, gave birth to her daughter Evelina and gained a masters degree in international economic relations from the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
She came into Wimbledon having secured two impressive wins in Eastbourne qualifying, suffering disappointment in having to retire against Darya Kasatkina in the first main draw match. On the lawns here, she played solidly to beat the Czech Marie Bouzkova in straight sets, her first win at Wimbledon since 2014.
But in this first meeting between these two offspring of elite athletes, it was Swiatek, the daughter of an Olympic rower, who put clear water between herself and Zvonareva, whose mother was an Olympic bronze medallist in field hockey.
So Swiatek cruises into the third round of Wimbledon for the first time. To have played and beaten Zvonareva could be a good omen.
In recent Grand Slam appearances, Zvonareva has always fallen to the eventual champion. At Wimbledon in 2018, she battled through three rounds of Qualifying only to meet eventual champion Angelique Kerber. In her previous main draw appearance at a major, in Melbourne in 2015, she lost to Serena Williams.
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