KATIE Swan may have many more Wimbledon match wins to celebrate in the future. But they won’t be arriving this year.
Despite a good luck message from her Scottish mentor on the eve of this match, the breakthrough tournament of this teenage client of Andy Murray’s 77 Sports Management agency’s tournament was over last night when she went down 6-0, 6-3 to Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania.
Having tasted her maiden main draw match win on Monday against Irina-Camelia Begu, the World No 36, this reminder of the turbulent nature of a life on the professional tour was dispensed in 74 minutes by her 30-year-old countrywoman Buzarenscu on Court No 3.
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While this was a slow start, Swan did not play badly in the opening set and came close to winning several games. But Buzarnescu, the highest-ranked opponent the British youngster has ever faced, gave very little away while pinning her opponent in the corners and sending dust from the lines flying on numerous occasions.
The Romanian’s level dropped in the second set as Swan broke back for 4-3, but ultimately her power-hitting was too much for the teenager and a backhand down the line on match point won the day.
Things didn’t get any easier for the Bristolian, whose family now live out in Kansas, when she went down 6-3, 6-2 with partner Katie Boulter in the ladies doubles to Lucie Hradecka and Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei, the No 14 seeds.
“Andy sent me a text before the match just saying good luck, everyone is right behind you,” said Swan. “But I didn’t get a chance to see him afterwards.
“I definitely felt nerves going out there - which I think is a good thing, because it meant I really cared. Even after winning my first match, I wanted to keep going in the tournament.
“Unfortunately I didn’t play my best today. But I have to give credit to her because she really didn’t give anything to me, and especially in the first set it was tough, really tough.”
Playing at a pre-tournament ranking of No 204, this first win against a top 50 player catapulted her into the world’s top 200. Already enough to be sure of a place in qualifying for US Open - a stated aim going into the year - the 19-year-old has risen so fast through the rankings that she has had to revise her targets.
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“It was a tough one today but overall a great experience,” Swan tweeted afterwards. “My first main draw slam win, first top 50 win and into the top 200 for the first time.”
“Practising here last week, I was playing every day with top 100, top 50 players, and I haven’t had that for the last year. I think every day I have improved and every day I’m getting more confidence that I can compete at this level and I have shown it this week. Today the scoreline suggests that it was pretty easy, but I did feel that there are some positives to take from the match.
“For me, I think the biggest thing is the consistency, because I showed today that I can play some great points, but I definitely didn’t do it consistently enough. So that’s the goal, and that’s what I’ll be working on when I go home and start practicing.
“We actually briefly talked about it as a team, and I think I have to readjust my ranking goals for the rest of the year, because I have already exceeded what I was hoping for for this grass season. So that’s a positive, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”
As for her doubles partner Boulter, the 21-year-old went off looking for a good night’s sleep before taking on Naomi Osaka, the No 18 seed from Japan today.
The World No 122, a Leicester City fan, is hoping to channel England’s run in the World Cup in the manner that she got a lift from the Foxes’ unlikely Barclays Premier League win.
“I’m going to bring it back to something that was at home, but when Leicester won the Premier League I feel like everyone had a massive lift in the city, and I feel like I was one of those people.
“It was a little bit of magic and hopefully I can do something out there tomorrow.”
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