Open and shut for no. 1

LONDON • Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff both had contrasting starts to their Wimbledon campaigns, but the two French Open finalists managed to get past their first-round opponents yesterday.

World No. 1 Swiatek, bidding to show she can be just as dominant on other surfaces than clay, recovered from a dip from her usual high standards in the second set to see off Croatian qualifier Jana Fett 6-0, 6-3. That extends her winning run to a record 36 matches - the most by any female player this century.

The 2018 junior champion, who exited the grass-court Grand Slam in the fourth round last year, had the honour of opening the second day's play on Centre Court in the absence of the retired Ashleigh Barty, who won last year's title.

Playing her first match since winning her second French Open title earlier this month, the Pole powered through the opening set without losing a game - registering a 6-0 set for the 17th time this year - despite a stiff breeze swirling through the main show court.

However, a litany of unforced errors, including a double fault, led to Swiatek dropping serve at the start of the second set, but she saved five break points to overcome her wobble. She will meet Dutch lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove tomorrow for a place in the third round and the winner of her past six WTA Tour events fired a warning to the rest of the field that she was just warming up.

"It's my first match on grass this season so I knew it's going to be tricky," said the top seed.

"At the beginning of the second set, I lost my focus little bit and she used that pretty well. I am pretty happy that I came back and I could finish in two sets. I am just figuring out how to play here and trying to implement all the stuff we were practising. It's pretty exciting, a new experience for me."

It was much harder going for Gauff, who was beaten in straight sets by Swiatek at Roland Garros, but the American 11th seed prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 over the unseeded Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse after a 21/2-hour slug fest.

Spanish fourth seed Paula Badosa and Greek fifth seed Maria Sakkari also cruised into the next round after beating American Louisa Chirico 6-2, 6-1 and Australian Zoe Hives 6-1, 6-4 respectively, but there was an upset as Olympic champion Belinda Bencic was defeated 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 by the unseeded Chinese Wang Qiang.

Former world No. 1 Simona Halep returned to Wimbledon for the first time since winning the 2019 title and picked up exactly where she left off with a 6-3 6-2 win over Czech Karolina Muchova.

The men's draw was rocked by the second straight withdrawal of a top player due to Covid-19.

Eighth seed Matteo Berrettini, last year's Wimbledon runner-up, joined Croatia's Marin Cilic, a Paris semi-finalist, in pulling out.

The Italian had been one of the favourites after claiming back-to-back titles in tune-up grass events in Stuttgart and at Queen's earlier this month.

A "heartbroken" Berrettini said on Instagram yesterday: "I have had flu symptoms and been isolating the last few days.

"Despite symptoms not being severe, I decided it was important to take another test this morning to protect the health and safety of my fellow competitors and everyone else involved in the tournament.

"I have no words to describe the extreme disappointment I feel. The dream is over for this year, but I will be back stronger."

In another first-round men's match, Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov retired due to injury against American Steve Johnson with the match at 4-6, 5-2.

REUTERS

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