Swiatek making strides after early struggles on grass

Former French Open champion Iga Swiatek became the first player to reach the fourth round of this year’s Wimbledon after brushing aside an error-prone Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-0.

The seventh-seeded Swiatek had only won one match on grass in her career before this tournament but the Polish player needed just 55 minutes on Friday to move into the second week. She lost in the first round in her only previous appearance at the All England Club in 2019.

Against Begu, Swiatek won 86% of points on her first serve and finished with just six unforced errors, compared to 25 for the Romanian.