Out of the 4 grand slams, Wimbledon has been Iga Swiatek’s biggest nemesis as she has yet to reach the semifinal round at SW19. The 5-time grand slam champion will fall short again in 2024 after a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 collapse to Yulia Putintseva on Saturday.
It seemed to be going in her favor as the world number one looked in control after taking the first set. But things began to spiral out of control at 1-1 in the second as the Pole proceeded to drop the next nine games. Swiatek did not hold serve again until the 5th game of the third set and appeared to have no answer for Putintseva.
“It feels really, really great,” said Putintseva. “I was feeling it on the court and that is why I was like fire. I was trying to entertain you more and more with my shots.”
Yulia Putintseva – Photographer: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images
The Kazakh will move on to face Jeļena Ostapenko in the round of 16.
It is back to the drawing board for Swiatek on grass as she continues to struggle on the surface. After her title at Roland Garros, she chose to skip the grass-court warmup season before Wimbledon which in hindsight now appears to be a questionable decision.
The loss ended a 21-straight match win streak that harkened back to 2022 when Swiatek fell to Alize Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon, ending her 37 straight wins and six straight titles.
She will now turn her attention to the US Open where she took home the title in 2022.
