Wildcard Brit Katie, 19, swans into next round
BRITISH wildcard Katie Swan caused one of the first upsets at Wimbledon with a stunning victory over the world number 36 Irina-Camelia Begu.
The 19-year-old world number 201 defied rankings by knocking her Romanian rival out of the tournament in the first round.
Bristol-born Miss Swan celebrated with her family and hugged her beaming mother Nicky after making it into the second stage at SW19 for the first time.
The packed crowd on Court 14 cheered on the teenager as she claimed an impressive win of 6-2, 6-2 within an hour over her 27-year-old opponent.
Miss Swan, who is mentored by Sir Andy Murray after she signed to his management company 77 in January, said she had been ‘pretty nervous’ going into her first singles’ match at Wimbledon and added: ‘I felt myself a bit shaky... I’m so happy that I managed to come through.
‘As a little girl I dreamed about playing here. I was so grateful to get a wild card. This year I’ve been working really hard. The past few weeks I’ve shown that I can compete with the top girls. Going into the match today with that mindset, I think that’s why I was able to win.’
However, she said she did not have much input ahead of her match from Sir Andy, who pulled out of the tournament on Sunday due to hip injury, but they did discuss Love Island. ‘I actually didn’t talk to him much before Wimbledon. I think he was busy with himself deciding what he was going to be doing,’ she said. ‘I saw him last week, but we didn’t really talk about tennis... It was more social talk, like Love Island, that kind of stuff.’ She added that he has helped her with her game and texts her every few weeks to offer advice and assistance. ‘He was always my idol growing up. To now be so close with him, it’s really cool,’ she added. Miss Swan will pocket £63,000 for getting to the second round.
She will now face the winner of the first round clash between 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu and Aryna Sabalenka, who lost last week’s Eastbourne final to Caroline Wozniacki.
The teenager said she was hoping to go further in the tournament with help from the British crowd and would get back to training as soon as possible. ‘I’m really happy that I managed to come through, but it isn’t the end. I still want to win my next match,’ she said.
She is the first female Briton to make
it past the first stage after Harriet Dart lost to Karolina Pliskova. In the men’s singles, Liam Broady lost 7-5 6-0 6-1 to Milos Raonic.
Meanwhile, Sir Andy’s mother Judy has said tennis should have its own #metoo movement. She claims there is abuse in the sport but young players are scared to report it in case it affects their careers.
Former Great Britain Fed Cup captain Mrs Murray added: ‘It’s very easy for a young, inexperienced player to be taken advantage of. There should be an independent sports body, where players can go where they know someone will listen to them and they know someone will act on it – whether that’s emotional, physical or sexual abuse.’