Wimbledon: Swiatek beats Zhu of China. Pegula and Garcia also reach the second round (women’s round)
The 22-year-old Pole, whose best performance at Wimbledon was in the fourth round in 2021, defeated China’s Lin Zhuo 6-1, 6-3 in 81 minutes on Court No. 1.
Two other top 10 players, fourth seeded Jessica Pegula of America, and fifth seeded Caroline Garcia of France, also reached the second round with two contrasting wins. It took Pegula two hours and 20 minutes to defeat her compatriot Lauren Davis 6-2 6-7 (8) 6-3, while Garcia defeated American Katie Volientes 6-4 6-3 on Court No. 3.
Two-time semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka made a successful return to action with a hard-fought victory over China’s Yue Yuan. Belarusian Azarenka, who reached the last four here in 2011 and 2012, missed Wimbledon last year because players from Russia and Belarus were banned because of the war in Ukraine. On Monday, she moved ahead with a 6-4, 5-7,6-4 win over the 24-year-old Chinese.
Swiatek, who recently won her first grass-court event at the Queen’s Club, lifted her most recent four Grand Slam titles at Roland-Garros just over three weeks ago, adding to those she already collected in Paris in 2020 and 2022.
The 22-year-old added to her slam collection last year’s US Open champion.
Swiatek, who won the girls’ Wimbledon title in 2018, was impressive on Court No. 1 at Wimbledon as she managed to handle the danger posed by 29-year-old Cho.
Ranked 34 in the world, Cho is the highest-ranked unranked player in the women’s draw at Wimbledon, with her confidence building this season after winning her first singles title in Hua Hin in February. Earlier, she had reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open.
It was all the more impressive at the time, as Swiatek dominated his first career match from the early stages. It has achieved 22 winners to Zhu’s 7. Although there was not much difference in unforced errors, as Swiatek had 16 while her Chinese opponent had 17, serving was 61% while Zhu served 57%.
Swiatek now faces either Sara Sorribes Tormo or Martina Trevisan in the second round.
– Jans
BSK
