Wimbledon makes classy gesture for Iga Swiatek in her first round match this year

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Iga Swiatek has been honored as the defending champion at Wimbledon.

Swiatek is the third seed at the grass-court Grand Slam, which she won for the first time in her career last year.

The Pole, who has also won the French Open four times and the US Open once, defeated Amanda Anisimova in a one-sided Wimbledon final.

She thrashed the American 6-0, 6-0, for which her family has now received special treatment in her first match as champion.

Wimbledon makes classy gesture with Iga Swiatek’s family

Swiatek played another American, Taylor Townsend, in round one this time around, with Centre Court playing host once again.

And in a classy move from Wimbledon, her father Tomasz and sister Agata were placed in the Royal Box for the match.

Used at the All England Club since 1922, the Royal Box welcomes friends and guests of the tournament, along with British and overseas Royal Families among others.

And it turned out to be lucky for WTA number three Swiatek, although only just, as she battled past Townsend 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

As noted by former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli during the match, it certainly wasn’t smooth sailing for the eventual winner.

At the start of the third set, she said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “You get the feeling this opening game is an essential game for Iga Swiatek.

“There is a little bit of weird body language coming from her.

“Her coach is clearly trying to get her to look at him so he can give her a bit of help, and he actually had to shout in the end for her to look up at him.

“I’m sure she is feeling the stress of being the defending champion now.”

Swiatek prevailed amid that stress, and was left visibly emotional after making it through the intense encounter in London.

Amanda Anisimova not thinking about 2025 Wimbledon final loss to Iga Swiatek

Of course, with every winner there is a loser, and unfortunately for Anisimova, she lost in disastrous fashion in last year’s final.

But like Swiatek, she has made a victorious return to Wimbledon, defeating qualifier Lina Gjorcheska 6-3, 6-3 in her first round match.

Speaking of any nerves upon her return to SW19, she said: “Well, I mean, it was a year ago, so it’s not like I started playing this match thinking about the final or anything last year.

“As I said, it’s a new tournament. I was just ready for my first round, preparing a lot for it. Yeah, I stepped out and I was really excited to play, feeling really good.

“So I just wanted to see, you know, where my level is at and challenge myself out there, try to play my game and do all the things that I have been doing in practice.

“So I feel like I did most of the things that I wanted to do. It was a bit of a slow match. But yeah, I was happy with it.”

And discussing the venue for her opening match, she added: “Yeah, I mean, Court 2 isn’t such a small court. I mean, still, it’s a big stadium.

“Yeah, hopefully I will be playing on Centre Court again this week, because I feel like I thrive and play my best tennis on the bigger courts.”

The sixth seed at Wimbledon this year, the 2025 runner-up now faces a tricky test against fellow American Sofia Kenin in round two.

Meanwhile, Swiatek continues her bid to defend her title against former world number one Karolina Pliskova.