Maria Sakkari wasted no time announcing her Wimbledon intentions, dispatching of Mirjam Bjorklund with a dominant 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Despite entering the tournament without a grass-court win this year, Sakkari displayed the consistency that has become her trademark in recent years. Her powerful groundstrokes proved too much for Bjorklund, who struggled to find an answer to the Greek's aggressive play.
While Sakkari has yet to advance past the third round at the All England Club, her confident start suggests a determination to rewrite that narrative this year. With her first grass-court win now secured, she'll be looking to build momentum and make a deep run at Wimbledon.
It felt a lot better than I expected," Sakkari said afterwards. "Obviously, you know, I've been struggling a little bit in Grand Slams in the last couple of tournaments, you know, with first-round losses. So that was in my mind.
"But I feel like today I was brave and strong enough to just overcome that fear. I think it was pretty solid from a tennis standpoint."
Sakkari is now a win away from making the third round of a Slam for the first time since the 2023 Australian Open. Her next opponent is Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, who reached the second round of Wimbledon for the first time since 2012 by beating Yuan Yue 6-2, 6-