Iga Swiatek dazzles on way to dominant victory at Wimbledon

Polish top seed thrashes Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-0 and moves into third round

Iga Swiatek on her way to a straight-sets victory over Sara Sorribes Torm in the second round of Wimbledon on July 5, 2023. PA

Top seed Iga Swiatek produced a dazzling display to thrash Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-0 on Wednesday and seal her place in round three of Wimbledon.

The Pole started a little slowly and dropped serve early having broken her opponent, but then moved through the gears.

Once Swiatek found her range with her lethal forehand, the four-time Grand Slam champion was unstoppable as she cruised into the next round in one hour and nine minutes.

“It's my first match on Centre Court I really wanted to keep my focus,” said the 22-year-old. “I'm happy I could play such a solid game and convert what I was practicing.

“I feel confident and happy which doesn't happen often at Wimbledon. I learnt a lot and I can adjust my game now to grass courts. I'm getting there for sure.

“I always feel like every year will give me more experience. I have played well here in juniors. In the future it could be my tournament.

“Every year it will be easier to play here. I feel really confident which is great.”

Due to the bad weather, the first game of day three at the All England Club did not finish until just after 3pm (UK time) when 11th seed Daria Kasatkina swept past home hope Jodie Burrage.

The 24-year-old Briton, making her Centre Court debut, looked nervous and lost the first set in 19 minutes, before she finally got herself on the scoreboard with some attacking net play in the second set.

The players were then ushered off court due to rain but that was only delaying the inevitable and Kastikina completed a 6-0, 6-2 rout in exactly one hour.

The Russian found herself in the third round before many first-round matches had been completed because of heavy rain that washed out nearly 70 games on Tuesday.

“To be honest it was much more difficult because I am playing a girl from here, everyone is supporting her and I'm nervous as well playing in the best court in the world, said Kasatkina.

“It's a special moment. I felt the electricity inside. It was difficult to handle it but I am happy how I was able to do it.

“The atmosphere on this court is something else. The grass is different on Centre Court than the other courts and I didn't hit on the stadium so it was a little bit tricky at the beginning.”

Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk fought back after being handed a bagel in the opening set to beat Greek eighth seed Maria Sakkari 0-6, 7-5 6-2, and reach the second round.

In the men's draw, third seed Daniil Medvedev came through his first-round match thanks to a 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 victory of British wild card Arthur Fery on Court One.

The Russian, who missed last year's event after tournament organisers banned all players from his country – and Belarus – over the invasion of Ukraine, did not have it all his own way against a player ranked 391st in the world.

Fery took 12 games off the former world No 1 one, breaking Medvedev's serve on a couple of occasions with the 20-year-old showing plenty of promise in what was only his fourth match against a top 100 opponent.

“I was pretty nervous, I didn't get to play yesterday so really happy to be back,” Medvedev said in a courtside interview.

“Thank you for the nice welcome, especially against Arthur. It was amazing as I didn't know what reception I would get and it was unbelievable.

“I'm not loved everywhere for who I am, sometimes I get crazy on the court, but I am going to be loving my time here and I hope I prolong it.”

On Court Three, American 10th seed Frances Tiafoe wrapped up a straight-sets victory over China's Wu Yibing, winning 7-6, 6-3, 6-4, to move into Round 2.

Grigor Dimitrov strolled into the second round thanks to a straight-sets victory over Japan's Sho Shimabukuro that saw the 21st seed drop only four games.

The Bulgarian won 6-1, 6-2 6-1 in a match that was interrupted by two Just Stop Oil protesters who threw orange-coloured confetti and jigsaw pieces on to Court 18.

The environmental protest group has targeted various sporting events including the recent second Ashes cricket Test at Lord's, which saw England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow carry one of the protesters off the pitch.