After battling back from the brink of quitting tennis, Katie Swan became Britain’s unlikely first winner of this year’s Wimbledon after beating Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu to reach the second round.
After converting her fifth match point, the 27-year-old Swan fell to her knees and held her head in her hands while Court 16 erupted into cheers. After Katie Boulter ,Swan, the world No 196, is the first player through to the second round.
A former Australian Open junior finalist, when she was just 15, Swan became the youngest player to represent Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup and was tipped for big things as a teenager as she made her Wimbledon debut in 2016.
But injuries stalled Swan’s progress, with a back injury putting her career in jeopardy. By the end of 2024, Swan had started coaching at a tennis club in Kansas, where her parents live, and considered retirement because the pain was so severe. As a “last resort”, she visited a doctor in Arizona and sought alternative treatment.
Swan described the rehab she underwent to overcome her back spasms as “excruciating”, to the point that continuing may not have been worth it, but she pushed through. “There were times when I cried during the sessions but I just had to trust him because he told me that it was going be worth it and I was going to feel better,” Swan .
In April 2025, Swan returned to tennis with no ranking and began to build her way back on the World Tennis Tour, the rung below the WTA. That June, she won her first title in two-and-a-half years in San Diego, returning to the world’s top 1000. A further five titles on the World Tennis Tour followed, with Swan returning to the world’s top 200.
A Wimbledon wildcard recognised Swan’s resilience, and offered the 27-year-old a first appearance at the Championships in three years. “It’s hard to explain how much it means to me to receive a main draw wild for this year’s Wimbledon,” she wrote on Instagram. I love this sport so much and although it hasn’t been an easy road for me, I’m glad that little girl didn’t give up. Another chance to play on the most prestigious stage in tennis. I can’t wait to give it my all.”
Swan, the British No 6, is the first home player into the second round after a devastatingly difficult first two days, with and the most defeats on an opening Monday since 2005. She will now play an American in the second round, in either former Australian Open champion and 26th seed Madison Keys or the qualifier Kayla Day. This is Swan’s seventh Wimbledon appearance, but it is already a special one.