Iga Swiatek ashamed to make Wimbledon request | Tennis | Sport
Tennis star Iga Swiatek has said that she was too ‘ashamed’ to ask for more towels as she booked her place in the third round of Wimbledon. The defending Wimbledon champion has earned the moniker ‘towel thief’ due to her conspicuous efforts to acquire as many of them as possible last year as souvenirs, which she later gifted to family, friends and charities.
The Polish star said ahead of the tournament she would do the same again and has been seen packing loads of the new red ‘strawberry’ towels into her bag before leaving the court. She did the same on Thursday after claiming a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over Karolina Pliskova, but admitted she was embarrassed to ask for more.
When asked by BBC’s Rishi Persad if she has all the towels she needs during her on-court interview, she said, with a smile: “Well, there are two more there, I guess, in the green boxes, but I was ashamed to ask, so I’m going to stick with the four that I’ve got already,” prompting laughter from the crowd.
The six-time Grand Slam champion was also on top form during her match, earning an A+ review from Wimbledon legend Martina Navratilova.
Speaking on BBC commentary, Navratilova said: “If I were her coach, I would like to get more spin into her shots, but she was great today, her returns were amazing, so A+ from me. Today, she really looked like a defending Wimbledon champion.”
However, speaking after the game, Swiatek didn’t agree with the pundit.
“When legends like that say nice things about you it means a lot and it’s why you try to be the best tennis player possible for people to appreciate it, so I’m really happy she’s saying that,” she added.
“I don’t know if it was an A+, sometimes it was a tricky game, especially with the wind, sometimes the balls were really low and far away from you, especially the last game I felt like I played so many dirty shots, not really controlling that much, but if you keep your margins it goes in. So not really A+, but a B, I would say.”
Swiatek will be back in action in the third round of the tournament on Saturday, as she takes on Alexandra Eala. Her opponent beat Maya Joint – the young Australian who dumped out Serena Williams – in three sets to set up the meeting.
