The grass court horrors have continued for world No.1 Iga Swiatek after she crashed out of a grand slam in the 3rd Round for the second time this year when beaten at Wimbledon in a major upset on Saturday.
The 23-year-old is the premier clay court player in women’s tennis, as evidenced by another triumph at Roland Garros last month, but the Polish champion’s inability to master the intricacies of grass continued when she was beaten by Yulia Putintseva 3-6 6-1 6-2.
The four-time Roland Garros champion, who also won a US Open in 2021, looked increasingly dejected as her hopes of breaking her drought at the All England Lawn Tennis Club slipped away from her in an errant display.
“At some point I was playing fearless. I was (thinking) ‘I can do it. I have to believe 100 percent. I have nothing to lose. I just (need to) go for it. Also my coach told me, no matter which shot you’re doing, believe 100 percent and just follow through,” Putintseva said.
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Putintseva had never taken set from Swiatek in four prior encounters but performed brilliantly to end the No.1 seed’s 21-match winning streak, with the star stating later she believed she had erred by being too busy after Roland Garros – despite not playing a lead-in event.
“My tank of really pushing myself to the limits became suddenly empty. I was kind of surprised,” Swiatek said.
“But I know what I did wrong after Roland Garros. I didn’t really rest properly. I’m not going to make this mistake again. After such a tough clay court season, I really must have my recovery. Maybe that’s also the reason.
“But I thought that I’m going to be able to … play at the same level. 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 in this tournament. I need to recover better after clay court season, both physically and mentally.”
Swiatek, who also lost in the third round of the Australian Open in January, was particularly wayward with her forehand when making 29 unforced errors from the wing from the 38 overall in that category.
Her 35th ranked rival, who recently defeated Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the final of an ATP Tour event in Birmingham, made only 15 unforced errors in contrast in a superb display of grass court tennis and will play Jelena Ostapenko next.
After dropping the second set, Swiatek took an extended break off the court, which raised the ire of some.
At the annual ‘Australian BBQ’ at Wimbledon a night prior, legend Ken Rosewall said the use of toilet breaks by players was his main bug bear about the modern game.
Putintseva said she was not surprised that Swiatek took a lengthy time-out as she tried to regroup mentally for the deciding set but did wonder what was taking her so long.
“I was a bit, like, not annoyed, but she took a lot of time off the court,” the Kazakh player said.
“I don’t know what’s the rules are. I don’t know … what happened, how many minutes she was taking. (But) honestly at some point, I was so bored.
“Like I thought she was coming back. Then I was moving, moving, she’s not there. Again moving, she’s not there. I was kind of getting bored.”
The loss will raise questions about the five-time major champion’s preparation for Wimbledon, for Swiatek opted against playing any lead-in events. While her winning strike rate on clay is near 90 percent, it dips to 66 percent on grass, a surface she is yet to win a title on.
Prior to the tournament, former Wimbledon semifinalist Jelena Dokic said that as brilliant as the right-hander is, she will never claim the trophy at the All England Lawn Tennis Club until she commits to a proper grass court schedule given the skills needed to succeed on it.
After lifting the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in Paris, Swiatek conceded she was not at ease on grass and that she was looking forward to returning to Roland Garros for the 2024 Olympics.
But the 23-year-old, who said she should have taken a vacation after winning at Roland Garros, believes her coaching staff made the correct decision in allowing her to arrive at Wimbledon without a preparatory event on the surface.
“I did it last year, so we always consider every option,” he said.
“But you never know. I could have got injured in the second match because I practised straightaway after Roland Garros in that case.
“I think my coaches are pretty good at planning. They chose the right option for this year. But we’ll see what’s going to happen next year.”
Ons Jabeur, a finalist for the past two years at Wimbledon, will also be absent from the second week of the tournament after she was beaten by Elina Svitolina 6-1 7-6 (4).