End of a dream
Katie Swan’s dream Wimbledon was cut short by Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round on Wednesday but the Briton bows out of the ladies' singles with scores of new fans, invaluable experience, and a generous pay day. She plans to use some of it to replace her phone case.
The 19-year-old from Bristol, who claimed her first Tour-level victory in the opening round against world No.36 Irina-Camelia Begu, was trying to become the first British teenager to reach the Wimbledon third round since Laura Robson in 2013.
Swan earned £63,000 for reaching the second round, which is almost two thirds of the total prize money she has amassed so far.
Facing a second Romanian in as many matches, Swan fell 0-6, 3-6 to No.29 seed Buzarnescu, a player with a PhD to her name. The score did not do the young Brit justice.
“She was pressing on my serve and she was really playing every point,” said Buzarnescu of Swan after the match. “She was aggressive so I always had to be very focused and concentrated because I had to block everything and play my game and attack her.”
Although Buzarnescu is 11 years older than Swan, the Romanian has less experience at Wimbledon compared to her opponent.
Swan made her main draw debut at the All England Club as a wild card in 2016, where she lost in the first round, while Buzarnescu, who was No.213 in the world just 12 months ago, had never featured in the Wimbledon main draw prior to this Fortnight.
The doctor’s rapid rise saw her leap from outside the top-500 at the start of 2017, to her current career-high ranking of No.28. Despite her seeding, Buzarnescu is still relatively unfamiliar with competing on the big stage.
Swan, mentored by Andy Murray and managed by his company 77 Sports, sent the No.3 Court crowd roaring when she claimed a much-needed service break to start the second set, after receiving a ‘bagel’ in the first.
But she couldn’t consolidate as Buzarnescu quickly struck back, breaking twice for a 3-1 lead. Swan had another change to draw level in the set but her opponent, who reached the fourth round at Roland-Garros last month on just her third Slam main draw appearance, steered clear and wrapped up the win in 74 minutes.
"I definitely felt nerves going out there, which I think is a good thing, because it meant I really cared and I still wanted to win," said Swan. "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, but there is still a lot of positives I can take from this week."
"I’ve managed to just stay focused and think that it’s just an ordinary game and just go play,” said Buzarnescu, who next faces No.7 seed Karolina Pliskova in the third round.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re playing on a big stadium against No.1, or No.50 or No.200 like today, Katie has such a good game on grass in the last five tournaments, I’ve watched her playing. She played well.”
"I think I have to readjust my ranking goals for the rest of the year," added Swan, "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."
Showing huge fighting spirit against Buzarnescu, clinching a milestone victory in her opener against Begu – her first-ever top-100 win – and with a three-time Grand Slam champion as a mentor, the future certainly looks bright for Swan.
