Iga Swiatek walks out to raucous reception from her home fans at Poland Open 2023 in Warsaw

Iga Swiatek was greeted with a raucous reception from her home crowd after she stepped onto the court for her opening-round clash at Poland Open 2023 in Warsaw on Tuesday.

The Polish star has returned to the WTA Tour after suffering a quarterfinal loss at the hands of Elina Svitolina in the recently concluded 2023 Wimbledon Championship.

Despite being a heavy favorite, Swiatek was downed by Svitolina's rousing challenge. The former's run at the grasscourt Major came to an end after Svitolina beat her 5-7, 7-6(5), 2-6.

Following her defeat, the World No. 1 took a scenic vacation to Greece before arriving at the Poland Open as a home favorite, resuming her journey on the WTA circuit.

On Tuesday, the 22-year-old received a great reception from the Polish crowd immediately after she stepped onto the court for her opening-round clash against Nigina Abduraimova in Poland Open 2023.

In a Twitter video, Iga Swiatek was seen cordially responding to the crowd's reception as she paced to her court bench rocking a pair of white headphones.

"Warsaw welcomes the World No.1," WTA captioned the video.

Warsaw welcomes the World No.1 ☝️

@iga_swiatek 🇵🇱 #BNPParibasWarsawOpen pic.twitter.com/xYVyJHui4O

Swiatek was up against Abduraimova in the opening round of the WTA 250 event. The four-time Grand Slam champion made short work of the Uzbekistanian, beating her 6-4, 6-3.

"I found some joy in playing on grass": Iga Swiatek after Wimbledon exit

Despite her quarterfinal loss at Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek stated that she relished playing on grass and felt that it was a "big step" toward her development and evolution on the surface.

Following her exit from Wimbledon, the Polish star took to social media to review her grasscourt campaign this season. Swiatek insisted that she was "content" with her results, having reached the semifinals at Bad Homburg and the quarterfinals at the All-England Club.

Furthermore, the 22-year-old said that she took this experience as a learning curve and found "joy" in playing on grass. She also stated that she and her team acknowledged what they needed to improve upon.

“It's been a while since I wrote more than few sentences here and maybe now it's a good opportunity to elaborate," Swiatek wrote. "What a journey on grass this year. I'm proud and content we made it to play two tournaments and achieve semis in Bad Homburg and quarter-final at #Wimbledon."

"It's a big step we took. I put in a lot of work, learnt a lot and what's better: I found some joy in playing on grass. We know what to improve, what to work on and focus on and that's the most important part of this experience for me this year," she added.