Wimbledon, July 3: Top-ranked Iga Swiatek was unbeaten since February and sure seemed unbeatable, compiling 37 consecutive match wins and six consecutive tournament titles.
She’s never quite been as comfortable on grass courts as other surfaces, though, and a mistake-filled Saturday sent Swiatek out of Wimbledon in the third round with a 6-4, 6-2 loss to 37th-ranked Alize Cornet of France.
“I know I didn’t play good tennis. I was pretty confused about my tactics,” said Swiatek, a two-time French Open champion who has never advanced past the fourth round at the All England Club.
It was not just the match’s winner that was unexpected. It was also just how one-sided this 1-hour, 33-minute encounter was.
No woman had won as many matches in a row as Swiatek since Martina Hingis also put together a run of 37 in 1997. But right away, it seemed, this would not be Swiatek’s day.
By the end, Swiatek had made 33 unforced errors – a whopping 26 more than Cornet.
Mirza-Pavic pair reach quarter-finals
The Indo-Croatian pair of Sania Mirza and Mate Pavic advanced to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event at the Wimbledon on Sunday. The sixth seeded pair of Mirza and Pavic reached the mixed doubles quarter-finals after their second round opponents Ivan Dodig and Latisha Chan gave a walkover.
In their last-eight match, Mirza and Pavic will face either the Brazilian duo of Bruno Soares and Beatriz Haddad Maia or the Australian-Canadian pair of John Peers and Gabriela Dabrowski.
Mirza, who has already announced her retirement at the end of this season, and her Czech partner Lucie Hradecka had earlier lost in the opening round of women’s doubles event. (Agencies)