London, July 1: Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek of Poland started her campaign in the 2025 Wimbledon with a straight sets win in her opening match in the women's singles at the All-England Club here on Tuesday. Swiatek, a four-time French Open winner and one-time US Open titlist, took out Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1 to secure her place in the second round.

The Polish former World No.1 has her best performance playing a quarterfinal at Wimbledon two years ago, which was following her best WTA Tour grass result ever. This year, Swiatek, who is currently ranked No.4 in the WTA Rankings, reached the final in Bad Homburg, Germany, which was her first WTA final since winning in Paris more than a year ago.

Tuesday's victory against Kudermetova is the 61st consecutive win in an opening match -- the longest streak of any woman this century. She’ll meet Caty McNally, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over British wildcard Jodie Burrage on Thursday.

With the victory, Swiatek’s record at Wimbledon is 12-5 (.706). That’s a fairly stellar mark, but perhaps because she is so dominant on clay, Swiatek has always been self-deprecating about her grass skills. And yet, the 24-year-old from Poland defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3, in the Bad Homburg semifinals.

“It for sure gave me a lot of confidence,” Swiatek said. “Obviously, it’s tennis, so every day is different, but I felt like I was playing great. I really pushed Jasmine the way I wanted to. I had a really great time in Bad Homburg and enjoyed it. Yeah, also having more time to practice before on grass really helped. I feel that I have a little bit more skills.”

And while Paolini reached the finals here a year ago, she is not listed among the leading favourites to win this title. Swiatek, a small distance behind Aryna Sabalenka, is ahead of 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and reigning French Open winner Coco Gauff. (IANS)

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