Defending Champion Iga Swiatek Struggles To Emotional First Round Victory

Swiatek, 25, a former world number one with six Grand Slam titles under her belt, looked to be cruising when she broke nervy 30-year-old Townsend's serve twice in the first set and took it with a stylish forehand winner.But it was the third seed's turn to suffer nerves in the second set. She sprayed groundstrokes long and wide as her forehand consistency deserted her and the 79th-ranked Townsend capitalised, breaking serve twice and capturing the set with an exquisite backhand drop volley and an ace.Concern showed on the faces of Swiatek's father and sister watching from the royal box. The talented Pole has struggled with consistency since her 2025 triumph over Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final, going out in the quarter-finals of the U.S. and Australian Opens and the fourth round at Roland Garros - a tournament she has won four times.SWIATEK KNEW SHE HAD TO PLAY IT SAFEThings did not look good for her in the first game of the third set where she lost serving rhythm, producing three double faults in a marathon game that lasted 21 minutes and included 10 deuces. But she stuck it out and won."Sometimes just serving the ball in might be a tough ask so this game for sure was about that and about believing that I can do it because it was long and many break points," Swiatek said in an on-court interview."At the end I'm happy I kept my composure, I was listening to the box and they were supporting me a lot. I know I need to be solid and not look for winners or serves that would give me a point and play more safe to have a chance to play a rally."Winning that key game appeared to galvanise her. The errors started to fade and, after the two women traded breaks, it was an emotional Swiatek who prevailed, winning the match with an ace.SEARCHING FOR CONSISTENCYShe covered her head with a towel and fought back tears before composing herself to speak on court."I'm happy I could get through a match like that because I got quite tense in the second set and I was able to come back to my game," she said."These are the moments where you feel that you did your job because it's not hard when everything goes your way and you're so confident that everything goes in.“When there are ups and downs, this is the time to check how much you can put to change things around ... but with my game I feel pretty well and it's just a matter of consistency.”