Iga Swiatek remains unconquered on court since March but the new standard bearer in ladies' tennis felt overwhelmed in the presence of a Wimbledon legend on Friday.

The world No.1, who arrives in SW19 on a 35-match winning streak, shared Centre Court with seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams.

The American and her sister Venus, who is absent from The Championships 2022, have set a gold standard on the women’s Tour for more than a quarter of a century.

But the intervention of the pandemic, combined with Williams’ more sporadic appearances recently, meant the two had not crossed paths until they met on the most famous court in tennis.

“When I saw her (on Friday), I was pretty overwhelmed. I didn't know how to react perfectly,” Swiatek said.

“It was pretty weird. So I came back to myself (a) few years earlier, when I was too shy to say 'hi' to anybody for a second.

“But I feel that just seeing her around is great because she's such a legend. There's nobody that has done so much in tennis.”

Swiatek, who was born a year before Williams claimed her first Wimbledon title in 2002, has already matched one record set by the American and is set to eclipse another held by Venus.

Her triumph at Roland-Garros last month gave her one more win than the 34 straight victories Serena claimed in 2013, and drew her level with Venus’s 35, the most consecutive wins since 2000.

Swiatek, who has won her last six tournaments, beginning with a triumph at Indian Wells, will set a new mark if she beats Jana Fett in the first round.

With the retirement of defending champion Ash Barty, the Roland-Garros champion is delighted to have received the honour of opening proceedings on Centre Court on Tuesday.

“I know that there have been some discussions about who should open and I feel really privileged that I’ve been chosen,” she said.

“It’s a great thing for me. I feel privileged and proud of myself mostly. Hopefully it’s going to be a good show.”

The Polish star has played in the ladies' singles at Wimbledon twice before and reached the fourth round last year, but she believes she is becoming more adept at handling the intricacies of grass court tennis.

It is four years since the 21-year-old claimed the girls’ singles here and she thinks she can draw on the lessons from 2018 this week.

“Still, four years - it’s not like a lot of time,” she said.

“But that was probably the most important time in my career in terms of developing and finding my game and learning how to do new stuff on court.

“It seems like a different world, honestly. A lot has happened since then. I'm happy that I was able to reach every stage of the journey and not stop at any of it."

The Championships will be Swiatek’s sole grass court tournament for the season after she celebrated her Roland-Garros success with a well-deserved break at home.

From succeeding Barty as the world No.1 in March to a stunning winning streak that includes a Grand Slam title, it has been a taxing four months and she felt a rest was needed.

But switching off proved a challenge for someone so industrious and used to intense training and playing deep into tournaments as consistently as Swiatek has been doing.

“It was hard to chill out and to not do anything, because I felt like adrenaline was up,” she said.

“I couldn’t actually lay down and not do anything after such an intense time. But I didn’t have to worry about eating good or sleeping good, so that was pretty nice.”

She has been training on grass courts for the past 10 days and feels the confidence she has gleaned during her masterful winning streak will help over the Fortnight.

“I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. But I’m just trying to stay open-minded and take positives from the situation and realise that I can play without any expectations,” she said.

Click here to join myWimbledon for a range of exclusive benefits, including access to tickets and the ability to personalise your digital experience with us.

Following along from home this year? You can still experience the classic Wimbledon atmosphere on the Virtual Hill, presented by our Official Partner American Express.