Swiatek downplays legends comparison as winning run hits historic milestone
World No.1 records 36th straight victory but is wary of being mentioned in same breath as Williams sisters
WORLD No.1 Iga Swiatek knows she cannot be compared to Serena or Venus Williams yet, despite winning her 36th match in a row to set a new record.
Swiatek’s 6-0 6-3 victory over Jana Fett on Centre Court extended her winning run that began in February and made it the longest winning streak of the 21st century, overtaking Venus Willams’ record set in 2000. The 21-year-old, who is already a two-time French Open champion and hot favourite for the SW19 crown, is surely set for bigger things but insists she is not at the level of the Williams sisters yet.
“Still when I see Serena or see Venus, they seem like, I don’t know, the legends,” she said. “I don’t consider myself a legend. They seem like the ones, they’re the greatest of all time in tennis. So not really.
“But it’s amazing for me to have that kind of streak. It just shows how much work we’ve been putting for every match. I’m pretty happy that I could show consistency because it was always my goal.
“I didn’t know it’s going to be possible for me to show that much consistency, and actually to win tournaments. But I’m just really happy and I’m trying to use it the best way possible.”
Swiatek’s 35th win was against Coco Gauff in the French Open final. Gauff, a breakout star at SW19 in 2019, had to do things the hard way to get past Romanian ElenaGabriela Ruse 2-6 6-3 7-5, but she thinks it will help her in the long run.
She said: “It’s definitely an art just because it’s impossible to play the best every day.
I feel like the last couple tournaments that I played really good tennis.
“Today I think even though I lost against Iga, I lost against Ons [Jabeur], today I played even worse in moments of the match. I think that’s what makes you a champion, and what makes you get to that next level is how you figure out how to win in these tough moments. I think today made me a better player.”
Simona Halep returned to action at Wimbledon for the first time since her 2019 title success and looked at home again, claiming a 6-3 6-2 win over Karolina Muchova.
Fourth seed Paula Badosa cruised past Louisa Chirico 6-2 6-1, fifth seed Maria Sakkari made light work of Australian Zoe Hives, wining 6-1 6-4, but 14th seed Belinda Bencic is out, losing 6-4 5-7 6-2 to Wang Qiang in a match carried over from Monday.
Two-time champion Petra Kvitova, winner in Eastbourne
last week, opened her campaign with a 2-6 6-4 6-2 come-from-behind win over Jasmine Paolini.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu is hoping to rediscover her grand slam efficiency at Wimbledon this year. The 19-year-old famously did not drop a set through 10 matches at the US Open having also claimed three straight-sets wins in SW19.
Since then, though, Raducanu has found herself dragged into a number of long matches, and her openinground victory over Alison Van Uytvanck on Monday was her first two-set match at a slam since the US Open final.
With her history of injury niggles and recent recovery from a side strain, avoiding staying on court too long could be crucial to Raducanu’s hopes of a good run, and she will be looking for more of the same against France’s Caroline Garcia this afternoon.
“I think that it helps at slams that you get a day off in between, so I think that is pretty valuable,” she said. “I felt good out there. There were some tough moments in the second set [against Van Uytvanck] physically, but I told myself, ‘Push through, if you win in two sets, then you don’t have to play three’. That’s the tactic.”
Raducanu looked relaxed and happy during a practice session at the All England
Club yesterday. The teenager has been enjoying feeling the support of the British public and she could not help but chuckle at the well-refreshed fans cheering her on as she sparred against two hitting partners under the guidance of Jane O’Donoghue.
O’Donoghue, a former
British player and coach, now works in finance but is the mentor to which Raducanu has turned to help her through her second Wimbledon campaign.
“She’s been with me since I was 10 years old,” said Raducanu, who appears to have no intention yet of hiring another full-time coach.
“She’s a family friend. She’s been there throughout my career whenever I’ve needed help. She’s very successful in her industry. It’s just great to have someone that I’ve known for years be there for me this week.”
Returning to Wimbledon completes a first full year on tour for Raducanu, whose tennis education was elevated to warp speed by her remarkable early success.
Familiarity brings positives and negatives, with Raducanu saying: “I think that it helps just with experience. Every tournament or every match you play, you learn something. It helps it all be a positive tool for the future. In a way, when you haven’t played anyone before, it helps, too, because no one knows you, no one knows your game. That is something that I experienced in a positive way last summer because no one really knew who I was.
“Since, I think that people have definitely watched me and raised their level and raised their game and played some great tennis. I haven’t necessarily played badly in a lot of the matches.”
Raducanu will return to Centre Court today for her clash with former world No.4 Garcia, who is now ranked 55.
The Frenchwoman is in good form having won a title in Germany at the weekend but needed a final-set tie-break to defeat British wild card Yuriko Miyazaki in round one.
“Caroline is a great opponent,” said Raducanu. “I played her earlier on in the year in Indian Wells and it was a tricky match. She plays pretty fast tennis. I’m ready for that.”