Wimbledon 2024: Top seed Iga Swiatek knocked out in third round by Yulia Putintseva

SourceBBC

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Top seed Iga Swiatek suffered a shock third-round exit at Wimbledon as she fell to world number 35 Yulia Putintseva.

Putintseva fought back from a set down to stun Poland’s Swiatek 3-6 6-1 6-2.

“It feels really, really great,” said Putintseva, who plays Latvian 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the last 16.

“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.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, Tunisian two-time finalist Ons Jabeur lost 6-1 7-6 (7-4) to Ukraine’s Elena Svitolina.

Swiatek struggles on grass continue

Swiatek is the dominant player on the WTA Tour after success on clay and hard courts, but has still not got to grips with the Wimbledon grass.

The five-time major winner is known for her clinical brand of tennis, but she hit a rare 34 unforced errors to Putintseva’s 18.

The Kazakh, cheered on by a raucous crowd on Court One, wrapped up the victory on her third match point to end Swiatek’s 21-match winning streak.

Putintseva has reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and US Open, but had never been beyond the second round at Wimbledon.

It continues a superb grass-court season for the 29-year-old, who won the Birmingham Classic last month.

Meanwhile, grass remains Swiatek’s least successful surface, with Wimbledon being the only Grand Slam in which she has not gone past the quarter-finals.

The 23-year-old French Open champion will return to her favoured clay courts to prepare for tennis at this summer’s Olympics, which will be hosted at Roland Garros.

Svitolina ends Jabeur’s SW19 ‘dream’

Both Jabeur and Svitolina are popular figures at the All England Club, having particularly captured the hearts of the British fans last year with their respective stories.

Amid the backdrop of her nation being attacked by Russia, Svitolina reached the semi-finals in her first season back on the WTA Tour after having baby daughter Skai.

Jabeur – known as the Minister of Happiness because of her infectious personality – went one better by reaching the final.

It was her second successive appearance in the SW19 showpiece but she lost again, this time to surprise victor Marketa Vondrousova, and had to be consoled by the Princess of Wales in one of the abiding images of the tournament.

Jabeur, who planned to have a baby if she won the title last year, says it is her “dream” to win Wimbledon.

Her wait goes on after an error-strewn performance.

The pace of Svitolina’s returning unsettled Jabeur and the focused Ukrainian broke twice to win the opening set in 27 minutes.

The second stanza was tight. Jabeur was unable to convert a set point on Svitolina’s serve at 5-4 and that knocked the confidence of the Tunisian as her opponent dominated the tie-break.