Iga Swiatek suffers shock 3R exit at Wimbledon 2024 as poor run on grass continues for World No. 1
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek suffered a shock third-round exit at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, falling to Yulia Putintseva in three sets on Saturday. The loss extends the Pole's poor record on grass; Swiatek has reached the second week at SW19 only thrice in five appearances, with a quarterfinal finish (2023) being her best run at the tournament.
Swiatek started strong in the match, taking the opening set 6-3 despite a late fightback from the Kazakh. In the second set, however, just as the rain started to thump down on the roof on Court No. 1, the five-time Grand Slam champion started to falter. From 1-1, she lost five games in a row to lose the set 1-6.
Yulia Putintseva then made it nine games on the trot, racing to a 4-0 lead in the decider with a double break of serve. Although the top seed managed to get on the scoreboard after that, it was not enough on the day, as Putintseva consolidated to wrap up the set 6-2 on her third match point, and with it the match.
Wimbledon, therefore, remains Swiatek's worst Grand Slam on the tour. At the Australian Open, the World No. 1 has a semifinal run to show for. At the French Open, she has won the title four times, including this year. And at the US Open, she won the title in 2022.
This year, barring the French Open, Swiatek has not had the best time at Majors either. In Melbourne, she lost in the third round as well, falling to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in surprise fashion.
Yulia Putintseva to take on Jelena Ostapenko in Wimbledon fourth round after Iga Swiatek upset
Following her win over Iga Swiatek, Yulia Putintseva will next take on Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The Latvian is yet to lose a set at the tournament, having beaten Ajla Tomljanovic, Daria Snigur & Bernarda Pera in straight sets so far.
The head-to-head between the pair is tied at 2-2, with their last encounter coming back in 2021. However, this will be the first time the duo face off on grass. The winner of the battle will take on either 31st seed Barbora Krejcikova or one of Danielle Collins and Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals.
With Swiatek's exit, the top players now left in the draw are World No. 2 Coco Gauff, World No. 4 Elena Rybakina and World No. 7 Jasmine Paolini.