Katie Swan, the last remaining British woman in the singles draw at Wimbledon, has been denied her request to play on Centre Court. The 27-year-old, who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 6-4 in the first round, will instead face Madison Keys on Court 1. Keys is a two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist and the 2025 Australian Open champion.
Swan's Dream of Centre Court
After becoming the first Brit to win a match at this year's championships, Swan expressed her hope of playing on the sport's most famous stage. "That would be an unbelievable experience for me to play on Centre. I think the biggest court I have played on is two, against [Belinda] Bencic a few years ago," she said. "Look, I'll be happy with whatever court I get. Playing at Wimbledon is amazing in itself. I guess I'll wait and see what the schedule says. I mean, yes, obviously playing on Centre would be a dream."
Wimbledon's Decision
Wimbledon organisers opted to schedule reigning champion Iga Swiatek on Centre Court at the same time for her second-round match against Karolina Pliskova. The men's singles will then take over the middle session, featuring 20th seed Arthur Fils against Matteo Berrettini, followed by the night match with 2022 champion Elena Rybakina facing Caty McNally. Despite Swan's disappointment, she will play on Court 1, the biggest stage of her career so far.
British Support
Swan will have the backing of the home crowd, which she credited for her first-round victory. "I tried to use them a bit today when I broke in the second set, to try to get them going, and it worked," she said. "That was good fun. It means a lot to me to have the support of the crowd. In the end, I could really hear them. I was trying to stay focused myself, as well, because there was a lot of emotions going on in my head. But I could hear the sound of everyone as excited as I was to get through that match. So that was really fun."
