Katie Swan hailed Andy Murray for his role in her breakthrough Wimbledon victory – then insisted she is just getting started.
Swan swept past world number 36 Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 6-2 for the finest win of her fledgling career, to reach the second round of a grand slam for the first time.
The 19-year-old world number 201 recently signed to two-time Wimbledon winner Murray’s agency 77 Sports Management, and thanked the 31-year-old again for his support after her composed and controlled victory.
Pocketing £63,000 for her win, Swan will next face Romanian 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu.
First win ?? @Wimbledon #feels ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aWRMK8HwKS
— Katie Swan (@Katieswan99) July 2, 2018
Murray is skipping Wimbledon this year so did not witness Swan’s success at first hand.
But Swan said: “He’s been so nice, he helped me with finding Diego (Veronelli) as my coach.
“Every couple of weeks he’d be asking me about how things were going and how the set-up was.
“We went out to lunch once and had a team dinner in Eastbourne. It’s so nice and almost surreal being in his company, he was my idol growing up.
With shots like these, no wonder the second round awaits… ?
British wild card @Katieswan99 advances for the first time at #Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu pic.twitter.com/IZ4lKg1j3D
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2018
“Winning here is something that I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl. But it’s the first round.
“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 want to enjoy the moment now, then I’ll get ready for the next one. I definitely want to keep going in the tournament.”
Bristol-born Swan insisted she had to fight to keep the nerves in check as she overcame Romania’s Begu, making light of conceding 165 places in the world rankings on Court 14.
“I think the bigger crowd will help me actually,” said Swan. “I played on Court One in Eastbourne last week, which is also a pretty big court.
“I like having the support behind me. I’m not going to be playing a British girl, it’s going to be fun, I think. I think it helps me.
“I was nervous at the start. But I have been playing well the last few weeks, and in practice all of last week, everything was going really well. I kind of just took that onto the match court.”
