The Japan Times - Wimbledon 'towel thief' Swiatek back on the trophy hunt

Swiatek is back at Wimbledon 12 months after lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time after a brilliant demolition of Amanda Anisimova in the final.

The 25-year-old Pole's 6-0, 6-0 masterclass was the heaviest women's final defeat at the All England Club in more than a century.

But Swiatek took home more than just her sixth Grand Slam crown from Wimbledon last year.

The world number three was just as ruthless in her pursuit of the tournament's famous towels as she was the trophy.

Retailing at £40 ($52) each in the official Wimbledon shop this year, the towels are a must-have item for many fans attending the tournament.

Towels are given to players for use during matches and most find themselves inundated with requested for the souvenir from friends and family.

Swiatek seems to have been assailed by more of those requests than most, judging by her determination to shove as many as possible into her bag on route to her first Wimbledon title last year.

"Let's start with the fact that I don't have any towels left from last year. My friends want it, my family want it," she told reporters on Saturday.

"I gave it to some charity because the thing became viral obviously. So I guess I should steal even more!

"Yeah, I will continue that because that's the best kind of souvenir you can get from a tournament."

Told there is a 'red strawberry' towel available at Wimbledon this year, Swiatek's interest was immediately piqued.

"Really? It's not an on-court towel, right?" she asked reporters.

When it became clear the towel was a limited edition, Swiatek pondered options for getting her hands on it before saying with a smile: "I'll ask for it anyway".

Swiatek will open her bid for a second Wimbledon crown against American Taylor Townsend in the first round on Tuesday.

No player since Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016 has won successive Wimbledon titles.

And Swiatek knows winning again on grass -- her least favourite surface prior to last year -- will be a huge task.

"I'm really in a place that I'm keeping my expectations low," she said. "Even though everybody is talking about this, I feel like I need to play matches. It's not going to be smooth because of last year.

"That's why I try to kind of not think about that too much, but more be grateful about the experience and enjoy it because my dream came true.

"Take some happiness from that and be proud of it."

S.Ogawa--JT