LONDON: Centre Court gave Iga Swiatek - the hottest player in tennis today - a rousing welcome. The skies cleared and the sun was out in all its glory, a soothing draft blew across southwest London as the elements joined in the celebration of a champion athlete.
The top-seeded Pole, who worships at the altar of routine and who has chased consistency with a blinkered focus, got her grass-court show on the road with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Croatian qualifier Jana Fett.
The 21-year-old was asked to open proceedings on Tuesday in the absence of last year's champion Ashleigh Barty, who bid adieu to the sport earlier in the year. Swiatek responded by extending her winning streak to 36-matches. No player on the WTA Tour has won more successive matches since the turn of the millennium.
The only thing that kindled disorder on the day, even if only fashionably so, was the star's layered skirt, which danced to its own tune in the late-afternoon breeze.
"Consistency was my goal during the 2021 season," said Swiatek, who had 15 unforced errors on the day. "This year my goal has been a little bit different. I'm pretty happy with the consistency that I had before, which was quarterfinals of tournaments, fourth-rounds of Grand Slams. Now I've gone to different level, I'm even more consistent."
Across from where Swiatek weaved her compelling tapestry, not a stitch or a step out of place, Nick Kyrgios, who has vigorously distanced himself from routines and practices and has rebuffed regular, choosing change over consistency, took on a line-judge, a section of the home-crowd and even spat in the direction of a spectator at the end of the match.
The Aussie, who had a running exchange with the home fans for the better part of the three-hour encounter, scored a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-5 win over wildcard entrant Paul Jubb. In a match where the pendulum swung wildly, Kyrgios had 55 unforced errors and 67 winners. In the deciding set he won just two points more than Jubb.
The 22-year-old Briton, ranked 219, did well to make a match of it, winning the fourth-set tie-break and taking the match into the decider.
The 27-year-old, who led 4-1 and then 5-3 in the fifth set, was broken in the ninth game when serving for the match. Jubb then levelled at five games apiece before Kyrgios broke and then sealed the match.
Barely had the opening-round clash kicked-off when Kyrgios had a go at a line judge, who complained to chair umpire Marija Cicak on the Aussie. Kyrgios, ranked 40, called her a 'snitch' underscoring that she had 'no fans'.
Kyrgios, who was unhappy with the crowd, especially a section of who were booing him, questioned the chair umpire. "You should remove them from the crowd. Booing is acceptable at Wimbledon?" he asked, before adding, "You don't accept a hat with two logos on it, but you accept disrespect of an athlete."
Kyrgios, who came into his press-conference eating his post-match meal, then proceeded to hold court on spectators crossing lines.
"Just pure disrespect. Someone yelled out that I was shit in the crowd today. Is that normal? No. I just don't understand why it's happening over and over again," Kyrgios said. "I think it's a whole generation of people on social media feeling like they have a right to comment on every single thing with negativity. It just carries on to real life."
When an athlete goes after a fan there's a price to pay, Kyrgios noted. "There's a fence there and I can't do anything or say anything because I'll get in trouble," he said. "They feel that they're able to say anything they want."
