Wimbledon 2024: World No 1 Iga Swiatek Out After Suffering Shock Defeat to Yulia Putintseva, Alexander Zverev Advances to Fourth Round

London, July 6:  No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek again faltered at Wimbledon, losing in the third round to Yulia Putintseva 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 here on Saturday.

Swiatek is a five-time Grand Slam champion, including four titles on the red clay at the French Open — most recently last month — and one on the hard courts at the US Open. The All England Club's grass has always given her the most trouble at any major tournament as a pro, although the 23-year-old from Poland did win the junior trophy as a teenager. Swiatek has only once been as far as the quarterfinals at Wimbledon; that was last year when she lost at that stage. Andy Murray’s Wimbledon Career Comes to an End After Mixed Doubles Partner Emma Raducanu Pulls Out With Stiffness in Wrist.

She entered Saturday on a 21-match winning streak, all on clay, and decided to withdraw from the only grass-court tuneup that was originally on her schedule before Wimbledon. This result also was unexpected because Swiatek not only had won all four previous meetings against the 35th-ranked Putintseva, but also had won every set they had played.

But Swiatek looked very little like someone who has led the WTA rankings for nearly every week since April 2022 and is assured of remaining there no matter what happens the rest of the way at Wimbledon. She kept making mistakes, particularly over the last two sets, when Putintseva did not even try to put balls away and instead was happy to allow Swiatek to help her. When Putintseva was building a 4-0 lead in the last set by grabbing 16 of its first 19 points, she only needed to produce two winners. That's because her other 14 points were all gained thanks to either unforced errors (seven) or forced errors (seven) off Swiatek's racket. Wimbledon Shares Picture of Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer’s Meeting With a ‘Thala’ Twist, Fans React!

After one miss into the net, Swiatek muttered to herself, and she generally looked as flustered as she ever does during a match. Earlier, Alexander Zverev overcame a knee problem, a marathon tie-breaker and nerves from seeing one of his sporting idols in the Royal Box in order to book a spot in Wimbledon's fourth round. Zverev beat Cameron Norrie — the last British man in the tournament — 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (15) on Saturday after converting his sixth match point in the tiebreaker on Centre Court. Wimbledon Welcomes Sachin Tendulkar to Centre Court With Special Video As Master Blaster Arrives To Attend Cameron Norrie vs Alexander Zverev Match.

Ben Shelton also reached the fourth round after the 14th-seeded American came through a third straight five-setter, beating Denis Shapovalov 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 on No. 1 Court in a match that had been suspended overnight in the first set because of rain. Shelton is the first man to win three consecutive five-set matches at Wimbledon since Ernests Gulbis in 2018. No one ever has won four five-setters in a row at any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era, which dates to 1968. Other early winners included No. 16 Ugo Humbert, who set up a meeting with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz by downing Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (9), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8) in a match that had been suspended before the fourth-set tiebreaker. In the women's section, Xinyu Wang of China rallied to beat Harriet Dart of Britain 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 while 13th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko ousted Bernarda Pera 6-1, 6-3. (AP)

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