WATCH: Iga Swiatek makes funny Wimbledon apology as she also improves stellar stats
Iga Swiatek reached a Grand Slam milestone that highlights her consistency after an impressive opening round win at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
The world No 4 defeated 64th-ranked Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1 in her opening round outing at the All England Club.
Swiatek was dominant on serve, saving the single break point she faced, while she broke the 22-year-old Russian three times.
The display was a continuation of Swiatek’s encouraging form on grass courts after her runner-up result at the WTA 500 event in Bad Homburg last week.
The five-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by world No 3 Jessica Pegula in a tight Bad Homburg final after wins over Victoria Azarenka, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Jasmine Paolini.
With her first round win at Wimbledon, Swiatek progressed to the second round of a Grand Slam event for the 25th time in her career.
Since Swiatek made her major debut at the 2019 Australian Open, no woman has featured in the second round of as many majors.
The 24-year-old Pole is now 25-1 in the opening round of Grand Slams, and only five female players have a better record from their first 26 first round contests at majors.
Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Monica Seles and Serena Williams all amassed a 26-0 record in Grand Slam openers.
In her on-court interview, Swiatek said: “Playing in this heat, I’m glad some clouds came. This day was pretty… I don’t know. I didn’t know how I’m gonna survive it.
“In tennis, we need to be ready for the rain, heat, everything. Especially in UK as you see (smiling).”
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The interviewer jokingly called Swiatek out over the amount of Wimbledon towels she put in her bag after the match: “How many towels have you put in your bag? I don’t know how big your closet is at home, but there’s about 6 in there.”
Swiatek replied: “Come on (laughs), it’s like a topic no one ever talks about. We love our towels.
We’ll let it slide, Iga
The No.8 seed returns to collecting wins at #Wimbledon – but turns out she also comes away from The Championships with a few items of memorabilia as well! pic.twitter.com/pMaEcEOA2j
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2025
“Every time I come back from a Slam, I think I have like 10 friends and 10 family members wanting towels. So sorry guys. Sorry Wimbledon. I don’t know if I’m supposed to do that, though, so…
“I mean, I have a lot at home. Trust me, I don’t need much more. If I’m gonna play like 15 more years on tour I can’t even imagine. I think I’m gonna have to build another room in my house just for Grand Slam towels.”
Swiatek, who is chasing a maiden Wimbledon title, will face world No 208 Caty McNally in the second round at SW19.
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