Defending champion Iga Swiatek failed to control her emotions after securing a hard-fought victory against Taylor Townsend at Wimbledon. She clinched the evenly-matched contest 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 after two hours and two minutes. While many were surprised to see Swiatek break into tears as the tournament is still in its early stages, the Pole later explained why the result meant so much to her.

“I’m not sure if I’m able to talk that much,” she said during her post-match interview. “But it was a tough couple of weeks. Not a season where everything went how I wanted. I don’t think I won any three set match this year. I’m happy I could do it here. Obviously, it means a lot opening the court as defending champion. I’m just happy to be here.”

There had been massive question marks around Swiatek’s form ahead of her title defense at Wimbledon. The 25-year-old has pretty much struggled for form throughout the season so far, but it was the Miami Open from where her run of results dipped significantly. After suffering a first-round exit to Magda Linnette in the first round at Miami, Swiatek went on to have a disappointing clay swing.

The World No. 3’s new coach, Francisco Roig failed to turn her form around and her best result came at the Italian Open where she reached the semifinals. Swiatek then decided to only play one tournament before Wimbledon, but the disappointing results would still continue. She got defeated by Emma Navarro 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Bad Homburg Open.

Despite being the defending champion, Swiatek wasn’t being seen as one of the favorites to clinch the SW19 title this time around. However, she has certainly made a firm statement with her solid performance against Townsend.

This is a developing story…