Wimbledon: Iga Swiatek is allowed to start - "Hopefully a good show"
Iga Swiatek (WTA No. 1) is allowed to play the women's opening game on Tuesday - "a great privilege", she thinks.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jun 25, 2022, 04:08 pm
Who will play the women's opening game on Center Court at the 2022 Wimbledon tournament: It was one of the bigger questions before the tournament started. One thing is clear: Novak Djokovic will start here in the men's draw on Monday, as the defending champion.
For the questions, that honor would have gone to Ashleigh Barty, who won the final against Karolina Pliskova in 2021. But Barty doesn't play anymore. And now?
The thing was clear for Darren Cahill: his ex-protégé Simona Halep. Because she had won in 2019, the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the corona pandemic, and Halep was absent in 2021 due to injury. Cahill's view was shared by many. But now Iga Swiatek will start. Because Halep was injured in Bad Homburg and the Wimbledon organizers weren't too sure about a start? One does not know.
The start is "a great privilege" for Swiatek, as she explained in the press conference on Saturday. You didn't really ask about it, there were many former winners in the tableau who deserved it. "I've only made it to the fourth round so far, that was my best result," said the 20-year-old. "Hopefully it will be a good show."
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Swiatek comes to Wimbledon rested
Swiatek is currently on the tour with 35 victories in a row, but most recently she had disappeared, had canceled her start at the WTA tournament in Berlin to the displeasure of the organizers due to a shoulder injury - bitter also because Swiatek was not only German but also Polish market had properly advertised.
At Wimbledon, Swiatek did not speak of an injury, she had to rest after the start of the season with many matches, "that was the best decision for me." However, doing nothing was a bit difficult for her, "I then cleaned the house", after seven days she started to train hard. She had a total of ten days on the lawn, not as much as she thinks.
Of course you know that Swiatek can play on grass, in 2018 she won the junior title, even if she doesn't want to attach too much importance to it. "It was quite surprising at the time, it was only my third tournament on grass at the time. I actually had my sights set on Roland Garros," she revealed. And anyway: "Junior tournaments are different, so many things can happen. The transition to the WTA is big."
So she still has to check out the "real" Wimbledon, described Swiatek, so it will start on Tuesday. The two-time major winner will start against Jana Fett.
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