Yulia Putintseva snaps Iga Swiatek’s 21 match winning streak to reach Wimbledon 4th round

Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva secured arguably the biggest upset at this year's Wimbledon.

Yulia Putintseva snaps Iga Swiatek’s 21 match winning streak to reach Wimbledon 4th round

Yulia Putintseva at Wimbledon (via Imago)

Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan stunned world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round of Wimbledon on Saturday. The unseeded player secured a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the Pole.

Putintseva will meet 13th seed Jeļena Ostapenko in the Wimbledon fourth round. However, the Kazakhstani star is not even thinking about her next opponent, as she is still processing what she accomplished on Court 1.

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I was focused on playing fast. Tactics to stay intense, I was thinking I beat the World No. 1 before on grass, so maybe…. [On her personality] I was always fired up as a kid. [On facing Ostapenkova] Can I just rest and not think about next match?
Yulia Putintseva said in her post-match interview

This result highlights the ongoing struggles of Swiatek at the All-England Club in London. The top seed recently won her third consecutive French Open title and her fifth career Grand Slam title overall.

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However, Saturday’s loss means she still hasn’t advanced past the quarterfinals in her five Wimbledon appearances. She had a similar fight against Naomi Osaka in the early rounds at Roland Garros but got over that banana skin to eventually win the title. At Wimbledon, she couldn’t get past a resilient Putintseva.

Will Iga Swiatek ever win Wimbledon?

The answer to this question remains unanswered by Iga Swiatek for now. Although the Polish superstar has shown plenty of success at Roland Garros and also won the US Open two years ago, a Grand Slam title at Wimbledon remains elusive.

Iga Swiatek Wimbledon
Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon (via Imago)

It’s not easy for tennis players to win the French Open and Wimbledon back to back. Former World No. 1 Justine Henin, like Swiatek, was a dominant force at Roland Garros. However, the Belgian never won Wimbledon.

Even the most decorated modern-era women’s champion, Serena Williams, managed to achieve that feat only twice in almost two decades, doing it in 2002 and 2015.

On the men’s side, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have won Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year once in their careers. Rafael Nadal managed to do it twice (2008 and 2010). Hence, there is a very small percentage that even an elite tennis player manages to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back with the tournaments too close to each other in the schedule.

Many former tennis champions, including Andy Roddick, have emphasized the importance of warm-up events for Wimbledon to help players better prepare. The 2003 US Open champion demanded the ATP and WTA introduce a Masters 1000 event before Wimbledon. Roland Garros has three Masters 1000 events on clay prior to the tournament.

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