Ashleigh Barty liked what she saw as she watched World No.1 Iga Swiatek methodically engineer a 6-4, 6-3 win over Croatia's Petra Martic at Wimbledon on Thursday. The victory extended Swiatek's active win streak to 21 and moved her into the third round at SW19. She has not lost a match on the Hologic WTA Tour since the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in mid-April. 

Swiatek became the first player to win more than 20 consecutive matches as World No.1 since Serena Williams between the WTA Finals 2014 and Madrid 2015. 

Swiatek will face Rothesay Classic champion Yulia Putintseva for a spot in the Round of 16 on Saturday. Swiatek is 4-0 against Putintseva and has won all eight sets they have played. 

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On a blustery day around the grounds at the All England Club, Barty was situated comfortably in the BBC commentary booth with Sam Smith. The former No.1 retired from the sport in April of 2022, thus making way for Swiatek's sudden ascension. Swiatek has been quick to credit Barty for inspiring her to add more dimensions to her game and being a role model on and off the court. 

"That's the sign of a champion," Barty said. "That's the sign of someone who is eager to improve. I just have this feeling that she and her team will never be satisfied." 

Swiatek is bidding to become the first WTA No.1 to win Wimbledon since Barty in 2021. When the stat flashed across the screen in the form of a trivial question, Barty laughed. 

"Well that's a bit awkward, isn't it?"

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Swiatek extended her record against Martic to 4-0 with an opportunistic pair of breaks. The duo exchanged holds of serve in the opening set until Swiatek converted on the only break point of the set, breaking with a flurry of relentless forehands to seal the 50-minute set. 

"She loves to be set and loves to have a rip at the ball," Barty said. "She wants to be in control. I don't think we're going to see too many chip returns."

Where Barty saw Swiatek's biggest improvements were in her net-play and serve. After Swiatek got the better of Martic in a battle of backhand slices, you could almost hear the smile break out across Barty's face.

"I quite enjoyed that," she laughed.

Swiatek's perfectionism nearly got the better of her in the second set. Her frustration was visible as she struggled to break open the score and run away from Martic, who took a bad fall early in the first set that required a medical timeout.

"When you switch to any surface, first couple of matches are not going to be comfortable and you have to accept that," Swiatek said after her first round. "But looking at how I'm playing on practice court, I feel like I'm doing progress every year, and every year is a little bit faster for me, the process of adapting to the surface."

Swiatek put her frustration aside as the second set neared the business end. She buckled down to break Martic to 5-3 and closed out the win with ease. 

"Iga, she's still learning on this surface," Barty said. "She knows she has a lot to improve and, for the draw, that can be scary."

"She's been able to play the matches how she wants to play to her tempo. She was tested in periods today but in the same breath, she was in full control. That's a credit to her team. Just over an hour and 20 minutes? Good day's work."

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Speaking of Swiatek's team, which includes coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz and physiotherapist and trainer Maciej Ryszczuk, Barty was particularly complimentary.

"Whether it's having the person you connect with in person or you're having those conversations daily, this is obviously the setup that works for Iga," Barty said. "She's been No.1 in our sport for over 100 weeks and this is the recipe that works for her. I don't think anyone is in a position to question her."

More highlights from Barty's commentary:

On her memories of facing Swiatek for the first time: "I think it was obviously the feeling you got on the court that she was very comfortable, very confident in her own ability, and very mature. For someone who came on the tour so early, she was very comfortable in herself from early days and we've seen that fro her success at Roalnd Garros. You certainly feel that as a player and that has just gone and developed in leaps and bounds over the last few years." 

On Swiatek's improvements since they last faced in 2022: "I think the biggest improvement has been her both serve and her forehand. Her backhand has always been world-class. Her ability to be positioned behind the ball in her backhand -- you can see how strong she is when she throws herself into her open stance. But her ability to have more consistency, more heaviness on her forehand, she really forces you to pick a side to try and break down because they're both very solid now."

On Swiatek's changes to her service motion: "She went through a period where it was a little bit clunky. While she was changing it, it didn't look fluid. She had to think about it, that's what it looked like. Now it's come around and she's a lot more settled in the technique and it's paying dividends. She's able to do a lot more damage on that first serve and she has a beautiful second serve with a lot of revolutions. It can kick up quite high."

On Swiatek's improved net-play: "I think she has this tenacity in wanting everything to develop. I think if she's able to transition forward with more traditional volleys -- she has the drive volley covered -- but that traditional volley can be quite simple. I think she's learning to bring that into her game. I think there's a lot of girls who are hoping she doesn't develop it as much."