Yulia Putintseva’s Victory Ends Iga Swiatek’s 21-Match Wimbledon Streak with Speed and Precision
Yulia Putintseva ended Iga Swiatek’s remarkable 21-match winning streak at Wimbledon with a relentlessly fast and accurate strategy.
In her winning strategy, the 29-year-old Moscow native, who is currently ranked 35th, said after beating Iga 3-6, 6-1, 6-2: “I was focused on playing fast and not giving her any time, and that worked.”
In five attempts, it was Putintseva’s first victory over the Pole. It was by far the biggest show-stopper of the past two weeks, and it drastically changed the appearance and atmosphere of the ladies’ event from just a few hours before. Now, we’ll watch the rest of the field in a crazy race into the second week, rather than Swiatek trying to march toward her first Wimbledon crown. Almost anyone can succeed.
As she put it, Putintseva outplayed Swiatek by playing quickly during and in between shots. She gave as good as, if not better than, she received in the toe-to-toe rallies that characterized the match once she established a baseline rhythm halfway through the second set. Defying Swiatek’s massive topspin strokes, she held her ground and blasted them back at him. Iga was always the one who blinked—or shanked.
Putintseva remarked, “I start to play, like, really, really good, when the turning point happened.” At one point, I was acting without fear. I simply thought, “I can do it; all I have to do is believe.”
Rushing Swiatek on her forehand side is a common tactic used to defeat her because of her strong Western grip, which makes it difficult for her to get her racquet through the hitting zone. Putintseva was successful in doing so, particularly while using her serve.
Additionally, she was successful in forcing Swiatek to hit high on the ball, something she wasn’t always able to accomplish precisely, with her biting backhand slice that skidded across the grass.
In addition, Putintseva occasionally hit drop shots from both sides. Her best stroke came in the third set when she launched a topspin lob that fell just six inches inside the baseline, thus ending Swiatek’s chances.
By the end of the third set, Putintseva was switching points so quickly that Swiatek could never catch up and she never had time to become anxious.
Putintseva remarked, “I think, yeah, I’m happy, extra happy, because she didn’t lose it; I took it.” I was playing fairly well, actually. This is the most significant thing to me.
To a certain extent, Swiatek agreed with that view. Iga remarked, “I totally let her come back to the game in the second set.” That was a bad thing for me to do. I was not without my blunders. “Yes, she took advantage of her opportunity.”
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Swiatek stated that her greatest regret not having taken more time off following her back-to-back victories in May and June at Roland Garros, Madrid, and Rome. She admitted, “I didn’t really rest properly.” “I promise not to repeat this error. I absolutely need to become better after such a difficult clay-court season.
Swiatek’s issue at Wimbledon is that she will never have more than three weeks to prepare for a new surface, regardless of what she does after Paris. She will compete in the Olympics in Paris on her preferred clay courts, at least this year.
She added today, “I felt like I underachieved a little bit; I lost in the third round.” But you have to move on; it’s tennis. This year, I’ll get a lot more opportunities to showcase my skills. I’ll just concentrate on it.
Putintseva wasn’t nearly ready to go on and consider her next match, against Jelena Ostapenko, after playing the match of her career. With a smile, she continued, “I need to relax.” “I’ll give it some thought tomorrow.”
She will continue to feel the joy of this victory for the time being. She began her response to the question of how it felt to defeat the world’s best player with, “I mean…it’s good.” She then chuckled and gave herself a correction:
“That’s fantastic!”
