Sawt Falasteen - Swiatek, Zverev aiming to lay down Wimbledon markers

Reigning champion Swiatek struggled to hold back the tears after battling past Taylor Townsend in the first round on Centre Court after an alarming drop-off in her form during the second set.

The Pole, who has been inconsistent since winning her sixth Grand Slam title at the All England Club 12 months ago, did enough to get through but said the enormity of starting her title defence had affected her.

"I think the whole process of opening the court and playing as a defending champion is for sure really emotional," said Swiatek.

"Last year probably the most amazing thing in my tennis career happened here. So I felt it also today."

Swiatek will have to be sharper than she was against Townsend when she faces former world number one and 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova.

The Czech returned to the court earlier this year having not played since the 2024 US Open due to a foot injury.

She has enjoyed some strong results this season, climbing from outside the top 1,000 in the rankings to 73rd.

Swiatek has won all their previous meetings, though, including a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing in the Italian Open final five years ago.

Last on Centre Court, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, bidding to take the world-number-one ranking from Aryna Sabalenka next week, takes on American Caty McNally.

Serena Williams' conqueror Maya Joint is back on court, facing Filipina rising star Alexandra Eala, with the winner to meet Swiatek or Pliskova in the last 32.

Britain's future queen Princess Catherine attended the tournament on Thursday, greeting fans before watching some of the action on Court 18.

- Zverev not thinking about open draw -

Zverev was pushed hard by Belgian youngster Alexander Blockx in his opening match but showed strong resolve to win in four sets.

The German ended his long wait for a maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open last month but has never performed well at Wimbledon.

He has a golden opportunity to at least reach the quarter-finals for the first time at the 10th time of asking, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic in the other half of the draw, and fourth seed Ben Shelton already out of the tournament.

"For me, the draw doesn't really matter, because I have played a top-10 opponent one time in my career here, which was Milos Raonic, in 2017," said Zverev.

"All the other years, I have lost to players outside of the top 10. So it's really about me."

The 29-year-old will be a heavy favourite against Valentin Royer, although he was dumped out by another unseeded Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the first round last year.

American sixth seed Taylor Fritz continued his strong recent record at the All England Club in Thursday's early action, seeing off compatriot Patrick Kypson 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the third round.

Fritz has made at least the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in three of the past four years and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the semis 12 months ago.

Fifth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur also breezed through with a dominant straight-sets victory over French veteran Adrian Mannarino.

Grigor Dimitrov made a winning return to Wimbledon on Tuesday, after suffering a pectoral injury in the fourth round last year when he appeared poised for a shock victory over eventual champion Sinner.

He is back as a wildcard this year and hoping to boost his injury-affected ranking of 146th when he takes on French Open semi-finalist Jakub Mensik on Court One.

"I'm very grateful to Wimbledon for trusting me with a wildcard. That shows appreciation, and I felt a lot of love out there," Dimitrov told the BBC.

"At the same time, I don't want to let people down."

G.AbuOdeh--SF-PST