Defending champion Swiatek survives Townsend test to reach Wimbledon second round

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Swiatek[/a] suffered a second-set wobble that left her in danger of becoming only the third reigning female Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round in the Open era.[/p][p]But world number three Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, steadied her nerves in the deciding set, surviving a 21-minute first game before securing the breaks of serve that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/swiatek-i-jNyZsXZe/townsend-t-Y9jUuHka/?mid=CG8xIzSr"]edged her into the second round[/a].[/p][p]The visibly emotional Swiatek buried her head in a towel after converting match point.[/p][p][b]The 25-year-old Pole hasn't reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam in her last three attempts since winning Wimbledon.[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="4252e614-b143-4c5a-bc41-4f43b357f4ea" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="9ce6ae0d-8ab9-4eaa-81a1-207a05d82342" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/townsend-taylor/Y9jUuHka/"]Townsend[/a]'s power-hitting pushed Swiatek to the brink of another disappointment at the majors.[/p][p]But the 30-year-old has never been past the Wimbledon second round and Swiatek did just enough to set up a last-64 clash against 2021 Wimbledon runner-up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pliskova-karolina/xGn9KNfO/"]Karolina Pliskova[/a].[/p][p][b]"It was a tough couple of weeks. A season when not everything went how I wanted. I don't think I won any three-set matches this year, so I'm happy I could do it," [/b]Swiatek said.[/p][p][b]"Obviously it means a lot to be the defending champion here. In the end I kept my composure. I knew I needed to be solid."[/b][/p][embed guid="4c933b9a-5d12-4901-9135-b2030e64952c" url="https://x.com/Wimbledon/status/2071967584237363331" social-type="twitter" /]