World No.1 Iga Swiatek had a happy homecoming to the BNP Paribas Warsaw Open on Monday thanks to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Uzbekistan’s Nigina Abduraimova.
In her first match action since a quarterfinal loss to Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon, Swiatek needed 1 hour and 35 minutes to get back to winning ways.
Swiatek is in pursuit of her fourth title of 2023 at this week’s WTA 250 event in her home country, in her second appearance. Last year, she lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Caroline Garcia when the event was held on clay.
"For sure, it's pretty special tournament. It's not an easy one to play, a little bit different stress than usual, but I'm happy for the chance to play in front of Polish crowds," Swiatek said afterwards.
"First rounds, they aren't easy, and anybody who knows a little bit about tennis, they'll tell you that it's a little bit harder to play at home. Coming from grass courts ... for sure, I need to work on some stuff, but hopefully, I'm going to play better and better every day."
Read on for more facts and stats from Swiatek’s opening win.
Warsaw welcomes the World No.1 ☝️@iga_swiatek 🇵🇱 #BNPParibasWarsawOpen pic.twitter.com/xYVyJHui4O
— wta (@WTA) July 25, 2023
3: Swiatek is one of three Polish players in the draw this week, but is the only one through to the second round. Wildcards Maja Chwalinska and Weronika Ewald lost in the first round to Laura Siegemund and Rebecca Sramkova, respectively.
In addition, the World No.1 improved to 3-0 against players ranked outside the Top 100 so far this year by beating World No.182 Abduraimova.
4: Swiatek needed four match points to seal victory. Abduraimova held serve from 0-40 down trailing 5-1 in set two, and broke Swiatek's serve in the next game before
5: Swiatek broke serve five times in the match overall: twice in the first set and three times in the second set.
When in Warsaw... 🔔🔔
— wta (@WTA) July 25, 2023
(Sound 🔛!)@iga_swiatek | #BNPParibasWarsawOpen pic.twitter.com/nxWvevApsI
7: The match was tighter than the scoreline might've suggested. Eight of the 18 games went past deuce, including five of the nine played in the second set.
8: From 4-4 in the opening set, Swiatek won eight of the last 11 games of the match.
10: Abduraimova double faulted 10 times in defeat, which helped Swiatek earn 13 total break points.