Top seed Swiatek stunned by Putintseva in third round
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 and end her 21-match winning streak.
“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.
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, defeated Danish wildcard and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 6-1.
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.
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.
She will face 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko next after the Latvian claimed a commanding 6-3 6-1 win over American Bernarda Pera.
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. BBC
