Just 21 years old, the Pole is already a two-time Roland-Garros champion and the world No.1, unbeaten on tour since February.
When she won her first Grand Slam as an unseeded teenager in 2020, she adapted well to her new status and had a consistent 2021 campaign in which she reached the second week at each of the four Slams.
When she rose to No.1 in the world after Ashleigh Barty’s sudden retirement, Swiatek thrived under the spotlight and went on a raging winning streak – now up to 36 matches – that included her second triumph at Roland-Garros.
On Tuesday at Wimbledon, she was given the honour of opening Centre Court proceedings in the absence of last year’s champion Barty, and the top seed handled that novel experience with great poise, coming back from a 1-3 deficit in the second set to defeat Croatian qualifier Jana Fett 6-0, 6-3.
Swiatek improved her career record in Grand Slam openers to 13-1 and will take on Dutch lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove in the second round.
“It’s my first match on grass this season, so I knew it was going to be tricky,” said Swiatek, who was competing for the first time since her Roland-Garros triumph three weeks ago.
“I’ve only played like 12 weeks in my life on grass, but the whole atmosphere, all the traditions this year, it’s really pumping me up.
“So I’m really motivated to play well here.”
Swiatek now owns the second-longest winning streak in women’s tennis since 1990; her 36th consecutive victory equalling Monica Seles’ run from 32 years ago. The last woman to win 36 or more straight matches was Martina Hingis in 1997.
Spending her 13th week as the world No.1, Swiatek feels proud of how well she has managed her sudden leap to the summit of the rankings.
“I do (enjoy it),” Swiatek said on court.
“I really worked on that and I knew how tough the last weeks were.
“My team gave me huge support and all the work we’ve been doing has clicked this season.
“I’m pretty sad that Ash (Barty) isn’t here because I would have loved to play against her on grass.
“But I feel like with her retirement, in the next couple of tournaments I realised that maybe it’s the right place to be.
“But I’m still trying to figure out how to stay in that position and be consistent here. So we’ll see.”
World No.252 Fett was contesting just her third Grand Slam main draw and was making her first Wimbledon appearance since 2018.
A former Wimbledon junior champion, Swiatek was on the attack from the get-go, breaking early and saving a break point on her own serve en route to a 3-0 lead.
Fett was playing very aggressively, going for her shots, and made too many errors as a result.
“Sometimes you just need to find your margins,” said former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, who was commentating on the match, as Fett fell behind a double-break.
A relentless Swiatek refused to let up as Fett tried hard to hold in game six, and she soon grabbed her 17th bagel set of the season on her third opportunity.
The second set followed a different script, however
Fett finally got on the board after 37 minutes of play, breaking Swiatek as the first three games all went against serve. The Croatian was unfazed when she lost her advantage and eventually consolidated her break for a 3-1 lead.
Swiatek dug deep to stave off five break points in game five and took advantage of Fett’s struggles with her ball toss to strike back and level for 3-3.
As Fett’s serving woes continued, Swiatek made it five games in a row to storm into the second round in 75 minutes.
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