Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 tennis player on WTA, has ended her run at 2024 Wimbledon with a loss to unseeded Yulia Putintseva in the third round of the tournament.
Fresh of a French Open title, Swiatek was one of the biggest favorites at Wimbledon despite her previous poor record at All England Club. She faced Putintseva while on a 21-match winning streak and seemed like she would push it to 22 after winning the first set (6-3).
However, Putintseva bounced back in an impressive fashion. She won 12 out of the next 14 games to take the next two sets (6-1, 6-1) and clinch an unexpected win. Prior to this, Swiatek beat her in all of the four matches they played without surrendering a single set.
“My tank of really pushing myself to the limits became suddenly, like, empty,” Swiatek said after the match. “I was kind of surprised. But I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn’t really rest properly. I’m not going to make this mistake again.”
Swiatek has five Grand Slam wins on her resume, four at the French Open and one at the US Open, but Wimbledon remains her weak spot. Her best result at All England Club is quarterfinals, which she only managed to reach once, in 2023.
Putintseva, on the other hand, is enjoying her best run at Wimbledon. Her previous best was the second round, which she last reached in 2021, prior to this year’s tournament.
