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Top seed Iga Swiatek began her 2022 Wimbledon campaign with an emphatic win over Jana Fett in the first round on Tuesday. She needed 75 minutes to defeat the Croatian qualifier 6-0, 6-3 and register her 36th consecutive match win in the process. The World. No. 1 has not lost since her 6-4, 1-6, 6-7(4) defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in the second round in Dubai in February this year.
The Pole, who was previously tied with Venus Williams on 35 consecutive match wins, now holds the WTA record for the longest unbeaten streak since 2000. She became the first female player since Martina Hingis in 1997 to win 36 singles matches in a row.
When asked if breaking the record and being the World No. 1 brought extra pressure, Swiatek said that she is enjoying her success and is looking to consolidate her position by being consistent.
“I do [enjoy the record and the World No. 1 ranking], it's pretty convenient," Iga Swiatek said laughing. “I mean I really worked on that and I knew how tough the last few weeks were. My team also gave me huge support and all the work that we've been doing has clicked, so I think it's great. I'm still trying to figure out how to say in that position and be consistent here. So yeah, we'll see.”
While basking in her win, the 21-year-old added that she was sad that she could not face defending champion Ashleigh Barty at SW19, after the Australian announced her retirement earlier this year.
“I'm pretty sad that Ash isn't here because I would love to play against her on grass,” Swiatek said.
Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, who beat Sonay Kartal 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, is Swiatek’s second-round opponent. A win against the Dutch player will see her equal Hingis’ 37-match win streak.
If Swiatek goes on to lift the Wimbledon title this year, she will extend her record to 42 matches, which puts her eighth on the all-time list, three behind Steffi Graf’s 45-match-wins on the trot in 1987.
"The atmosphere and all the tradition that is here is really kind of pumping me up, I'm really motivated to play" - Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek came out all guns blazing in her first-round match, taking the opening set 6-0. Although Fett put up a much better fight in the second set to go 3-1 up, the 21-year-old Pole won five straight games to seal the tie.
Swiatek said that she is still getting up to speed as she is playing on grass for the first time this season.
“I am [happy with the win]. It's my first match on grass this season, so I knew it was going to be tricky. I lost my focus a little bit and she used that pretty well. I'm pretty happy that I came back and I could finish in two sets. I'm just figuring out how to play here and trying to implement all this stuff that we were practising on, so it's pretty exciting. It's a new experience for me basically,” Iga Swiatek said.
While she acknowledged that she hasn’t fared well on grasscourts in her career, she is looking forward to setting that record straight at SW19 this year.
“Honestly, it's pretty tricky [to play on grass] you know. I still feel like I have only played like 12 weeks in my [entire] life on grass. But the atmosphere and all the tradition that is here is really kind of pumping me up, so I'm really motivated to play here well,” Swiatek said.
