Wimbledon 2024 Women’s Day 6

Yulia Putintseva repeated a grass-court giant-killing act on one of the biggest stages in tennis, knocking world No. 1 Iga Swiatek out of Wimbledon 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday. 

The third-round thrashing on covered Court No. 1 on a day of constant rain interruptions, sends the Kazakh into uncharted territory.

She also beat a WTA No. 1 in 2019 on grass at Birmingham, eliminating then-top-ranked Naomi Osaka in the second round.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek had not lost a match since mid-April in Stuttgart and was on a 21-match win streak.

But the 35th-ranked challenger put an end to that success with her upset in two hours. Swiatek will remain atop the rankings despite the shock loss.

The winner had never been to the third round here in nine previous appearances.

The Polish top seed won the opening set but suddenly went off the boil as the second set began, with Putintseva using quick-fire tactics to rattle the seed and speed up the pace of play.

“I feel great, really great,” she said. “I don’t know how I did it.

“My tactic was to not give her any time, it worked and that was pretty much it.

.”I tried to play my game and stay intense on every point. I took time away from her.

“I have no words, I’m so happy now. The crowd brought me back to life after losing the first set. I could feel their energy.”

Swiatek ended with 38 unforced errors while Putintseva held her count to 15.

 “I totally let her come back to the game in the second set,” the top seed said.

“I shouldn’t have done that. I made some mistakes, as well. But for sure, she used her chance.

“My tank of really pushing myself to the limits became suddenly, like,empty. I was kind of surprised. 

“But I didn’t really rest properly after Roland Garros. I’m not going to make this mistake again.

“I feel like on grass I need little bit more of that energy to keep being patient and accept some mistakes.

“Mentally, I didn’t really do that well at this tournament. I need to recover better after clay court season, both physically and mentally.”  

Putintseva next takes on Jelena Ostapenko; The 13th-seeded Latvian put out American Bernarda Pera with the loss of four games in 59 minutes.

Elena Svitolina, 2023 semi-finalist here, spent 80 minutes in adding to the Wimbledon misery for two-time losing finalist Ons Jabeur, defeating the Tunisian 6-1, 7-6 (4).

The Ukrainian winner, watched by husband Gael Monfils, advanced into the second week on her second match point.

“It was really tight in the second set, I had to stay focused,” Svitolina said. “It was a big relief to win it in a tiebreaker.”They are always a lottery – and I feel I won one today.

“It’s not easy to play such a champion like Ons, she’s very tricky on grass. But I was playing great tennis today.

‘I’m relieved and happy with my performance.”

Jabeur could not hide her disappointment: “I feel like I didn’t play my best and I tried to come back in the second set, and I had my chance.

“That’s tennis. I hope I can definitely learn from this one and be stronger in the

second half of the season.”

Fourth seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, hammered former No. 1  Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 6-1.

Harriet Dart made a British exit, losing 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 to China’s Wang Xinyu, who accounted for fifth seed Jessica Pegula in the previous round.

“It was a huge opportunity today; I put myself in some situations where I was up

and leading. 

“It was really tough: to be up in two sets and come away with a loss is pretty
heartbreaking, to be honest.”

Former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova advanced into the second week as Spanish opponent Jessica Bouzas Maniero, who put out 2023 winner Marketa Vondrousova in the first round, had to quit after less than an hour.

Krejcikova moved on 6-0, 4-3. “It’s obviously very disappointing that Jessica had to retire. It was an interesting match with the (rain) delays and everything that was happening. 

“But I’m happy. I’m happy I’m through to the fourth round.

Main photo:- Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd