2023 Wimbledon: Iga Swiatek overcomes Zhu Lin, reaches second round
Top seed Iga Swiatek overcame Zhu Lin in the first round (women's singles) of 2023 Wimbledon on July 3. The former claimed a 6-1, 6-3 win after over an hour to reach the second round. Swiatek has reached the Wimbledon second round for the third successive year. She is eyeing her second Grand Slam title of 2023, having won the French Open.
A look at the match stats
Swiatek won a total of 62 points and 22 winners in the match. Both players struck a solitary ace, while Swiatek recorded more double faults (2). Swiatek had a win percentage of 70 and 63 in the first and second serves, respectively. She won 55% of the receiving points. Notably, Lin covered 17.1 meters of distance per point.
Swiatek won the 2023 French Open
Earlier this year, Swiatek reigned supreme after beating Karolina Muchova to win the 2023 French Open. She was pushed by Muchova before she showed her experience and closed the tie. She won the match in three sets (6-2, 5-7, 6-4). Swiatek won her second successive Roland Garros honor and a third in total. Overall, she has clinched four Grand Slam honors.
Swiatek withdrew from Bad Homburg semis
As mentioned, Swiatek scripted history at Roland Garros in June. The Polish, who tops the WTA Rankings currently, won three matches in Bad Homburg thereafter. However, she withdrew from the semi-finals, citing a viral illness.
Can Swiatek succeed on grass?
Swiatek is a three-time Roland Garros champion. She reached the Australian Open semi-finals in 2022 and won the US Open later that year. Wimbledon is the only major where she is yet to qualify for the quarter-finals. Swiatek is now 10-5 on grass courts. As per WTA, she has a win percentage of 66.7 on grass compared to clay (87.5) and hard court (74.6).
Hard for me to think about grass: Swiatek
Speaking on her grass-court journey, Swiatek said, "Throughout the whole season, it's hard for me to think about grass. I was thinking last year that maybe it would be good, doing part of the preseason on grass." "Only the idea is crazy because still we have, like, four or five weeks of preseason usually right now when you play the [WTA] Finals," she added.
