No signs of illness for Iga Swiatek as she started her 2023 Wimbledon campaign with an emphatic victory over Lin Zhu in two sets.
Iga Swiatek is the top seed at Wimbledon and she played the first match in line with her status. The Polish player is apparently not a great player on grass but she's certainly better than a lot of other players even with the lack of experience.
There weren't any expectations for the grass season this year as she simply approached it with the desire to learn as much as possible and get better on it. Her game fits the surface well as Mats Wilander predicted her to end up with multiple Wimbledon trophies if she keeps her level of play. Her only preparation event was the Bad Homburg Open, WTA 250 tournament, where she put together a decent run.
She ultimately pulled out of the event due to an illness before the semi-final but reassured fans that she was fine in her pre-event press conference. Swiatek didn't show any lingering effects in the match against Zhu as she played a superb first set. The first game was a bit shaky but after she got over that, Swiatek smashed her opponent comfortably 6-1.
She didn't serve that well and get many free points but she outplayed her opponent from the baseline easily putting up 10 winners compared to Zhu's six. The second set saw her continue the same approach and it worked as she took an early break which she managed to hold until the end of the match.
It was a decent start for Swiatek who is looking very dangerous and likely to make the second week. She was named as the 3rd favourite by more than a few analysts and we could see why. Expect her confidence to rise with every match and that's going to be trouble for the rest of the field.
The final score was 6-1 6-3 as she advances to the second round where she'll either face Sara Sorribes Tormo or Martina Trevisan. Swiatek had 21 winners in the match.