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No. 1 Iga Świątek Upset by Yulia Putintseva at Wimbledon 2024 After French Open Win

Mike Chiari@@mikechiariX.com LogoFeatured Columnist IVJuly 6, 2024

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 06: Iga Swiatek of Poland plays a forehand against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in her Ladies' Singles third round match during day six of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 06, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva shocked world No. 1 Iga Świątek in the third round of the Wimbledon women's singles tournament on Saturday.

Putintseva pulled off the 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 upset, marking the continuation of the Polish star's woes at the All England Club in London.

Świątek was coming off her third consecutive French Open title and fifth career Grand Slam title overall, but with Saturday's loss, she has yet to make it past the quarterfinals in five career Wimbledon appearances.

Per The Tennis Letter, Świątek's loss snapped a 21-match winning streak, and Putintseva scored her first career victory over Świątek after four previous losses:

The Tennis Letter @TheTennisLetter

Putintseva d. Swiatek 3-6 6-1 6-2<br><br>Yulia snaps Iga's 21 match win streak.<br><br>She becomes the 5th woman to beat Iga this year.<br><br>She was 0-4 against Iga &amp; had never won a set before today.<br><br>✅2nd win over #1<br>✅1st Wimbledon R4<br>✅12th top 10 win<br><br>Seizing her moment.<br><br>🇰🇿🩵 <a href="https://t.co/KJOPcDOFYe">pic.twitter.com/KJOPcDOFYe</a>

The 23-year-old Świątek has undoubtedly been the dominant force in women's tennis over the past few years, but grass courts have been her kryptonite of sorts.

Of Świątek's 22 career WTA titles, all of them have come on either clay or hard courts, and none have been on grass.

As noted by Ben Rothenberg of the No Challenges Remaining podcast, the French Open is the only Grand Slam at which Świątek has advanced past the quarters over the past two years:

Ben Rothenberg @BenRothenberg

Iga Swiatek is far and away the clear WTA #1, but she's only been dominant at one Slam recently.<br><br>Her last seven major results:<br><br>2023 🐨: 4R<br>2023🐌: 🏆<br>2023🍓: QF<br>2023🗽: 4R<br><br>2024🐨: 3R<br>2024🐌: 🏆<br>2024🍓: 3R<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wimbledon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Wimbledon</a>

After dropping the first set, Putintseva dominated Świątek in essentially every aspect Saturday, winning 12 of the final 15 games.

Świątek only managed to break Putintseva once in their match, while Putintseva broke Świątek's serve on four occasions. Świątek also had 38 unforced errors compared to just 15 for Putintseva.

Putintseva is a 29-year-old veteran who is unseeded at Wimbledon and is the No. 35 player in the WTA rankings.

Saturday's win was unquestionably the biggest of her career at a Grand Slam thus far, as she had never before advanced past the third round.

Now, Putintseva will play in the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time, and her opponent on Monday will be 13th-seeded Jeļena Ostapenko, who won the 2017 French Open and reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018.