A resurgent Daria Saville records her first main-draw singles win at Wimbledon since 2018.
London, Great Britain, 2 July 2024 | Leigh Rogers
Daria Saville scored her first main-draw singles win at Wimbledon in six years today – but that was not the milestone number she was focused on.
The 30-year-old was more determined to take advantage of her experience in a first-round meeting with world No.59 Peyton Stearns, who was making only her second Wimbledon appearance.
“It’s funny,” Saville told media after recording a 6-4 6-2 victory against the 22-year-old American. “I’ve had so much experience, I didn’t even realise it was my eighth Wimbledon. So I was like ‘Okay, you’ve done it seven times before, you’ve had all of this experience. What are you going to do with it?’
“I think that helped me knowing that I’ve done it before, it’s nothing new, I know what to expect, I know that I’m playing on a small court with everyone’s walking by and I thought that I handled it really well today.”
Saville produced a measured performance, striking 20 winners and just 14 unforced errors across their 89-minute encounter.
“I’m pretty happy with how I played and more so how I handled it,” Saville said.
“In big moments I played good tennis and backed myself. Instead of feeling anxious. I was like ‘Okay, just be clear. What are you going to do here?’ I almost felt like I welcomed that feeling of being nervous, of being anxious, instead of trying to fight it.”
At world No.59, Stearns becomes the highest-ranked player that Saville has defeated in her eight main-draw appearances at Wimbledon.
This impressive result continues a stunning season for Saville, who has improved her ranking more than 120 places since January.
After soaring back into the world’s top 100 in April, Saville reclaimed the Australian No.1 position for the first time in more than six years. However, she has struggled to replicate her top form at Grand Slam level.
“I think this win is a bit of a relief as well, because I lost first round in the French and Aus Open,” she noted. “French I obviously had a bad draw (against eventual finalist Jasmine Paolini), but I still didn’t feel like I played free and the way that I could.”
As world No.82 Saville looks to continue her momentum, she faces a big challenge in the second round against world No.19 Marta Kostyuk.
The 22-year-old Ukrainian was an Australian Open…
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