Six years ago Katie Swan departed Wimbledon alongside her dad having watched Serena Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska for her fifth Wimbledon title.
Six years ago Katie Swan departed Wimbledon alongside her dad having watched Serena Williams beat Agnieszka Radwanska for her fifth Wimbledon title.
On Monday Williams was back, successfully beginning her bid for an eighth crown with a first round victory.
And so too was 19-year-old Swan, although this time with racket in hand, defiantly making a statement of her own with a straight sets win over world number 36 Irina-Camelia Begu to set up a clash against 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu.
“It's something that as a little girl I dreamt about to play here,” said world number 201 Swan, after her 6-2 6-2 win, coming 20 minutes before Williams completed her own victory.
“To get a wild card, I was so grateful to get that. And this year I've been working really hard.
“The last few weeks I've shown more to myself than anyone I can compete with the top girls.
“Going into the match with that mindset, I think that's why I was able to win.”
Two-time winner Andy Murray may have pulled out on the eve of the 2018 tournament but this country’s tennis flagbearer for so many years was still leaving his mark on the pristine grass courts of the All England Club.
Bristolian Swan has been signed up to Murray’s management company since the start of the year and benefits from his guidance and assistance first hand.
But if her post-match comments about not wanting to be content to settle for merely one victory this week drew comparisons with a certain Scot’s dogged and determined personality, this victory was very much carved out by 2015 Australian Open junior runner up Swan.
With fellow youngster Harriet Dart giving seventh seed Karolina Pliskova a scare before ultimately succumbing to defeat and then Liam Broady beaten by Milos Raonic, it fell to Swan to gracefully swoop up Britain’s first victory at this year’s Wimbledon - Cameron Norrie also exiting later in the evening to Aljaz Bedene.
The youngest home nations singles player in action, the British number nine broke Begu’s serve in the fourth set and then took a second chance in the eighth to seal the first set.
Swan’s serve proved to be her main, albeit not her only, weapon and she kept the pressure on, eventually wrapping up the biggest win of her career after 56 minutes when her opponent double faulted.
“I was really nervous. I was shaking, more because this is my favourite tournament in the world,” added Swan, who revealed her first purchase with her first round winnings of £35,000 would be a new phone case.
“I knew that I was close to winning. I just wanted it so much. The good thing was that I kept playing my game throughout, even when I felt those nerves.
“It's basically a combination of everything I've done in the last six months coming together. “A result like this was a long time coming. I've been doing everything I can to improve. I think it's finally showing.
“I'm really happy that I managed to come through, but it isn't the end. I still want to win my next match.
“I just want to enjoy the moment now, then I'll get ready for the next one. I definitely want to keep going in the tournament.”
Wimbledon organisers awarded British females a record five wildcards for this year’s tournament, with Katy Dunne, Gabriella Taylor and Naomi Broady in action on Tuesday.
Like Swan, Dart also demonstrated the faith in her was justified as she came close to causing an upset earlier in the day.
This was the 21-year-old’s first meeting with a top-ten player but after upsetting twin sister Kristyna at Eastbourne, Dart did her level best at upsetting the entire Pliskova clan in the space of a fortnight.
Ranked 171 in the world, the Brit came up short in the opening set tie-break as the seventh seed finally found her form.
But Dart immediately broke back in the second, racing into a 4-1 lead before putting aside a lengthy off-court medical time out for a leg injury after slipping on the baseline to level with a service game to love.
Pliskova’s experience came through to the fore though in the decider and she eventually won 7-6 2-6 6-1.
“I think I played pretty well. It's my first time playing here in the main draw singles,” said Dart.
“I’m obviously disappointed to lose, but there many positives to take forward.
“These are all new experiences for me. I'm just trying to grab every opportunity, take it in my stride.”
Fellow wildcard Broady also started promisingly, going toe-to-toe with Raonic in the first set before being broken decisively in the 12th game.
And from then on, it was one way traffic as the British number seven had no answer to the power of the Canadian who fired down 18 aces on the way to a 7-5 6-0 6-1 victory.
Norrie completed the quartet of Brits in action, with the world number 75 aiming to continue his recent progress on the world stage.
He started brightly, taking the opening set against Bedene before two tie-breaks fell the wrong way for the Brit with his opponent eventually wrapping up the win in the fading light 4-6 7-6 7-6 6-4.
By Pippa Field at Wimbledon