Iga Swiatek suffers shock 3R exit at Wimbledon 2024 as poor run on grass continues for World No. 1

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek suffered a shock third-round exit at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, falling to Yulia Putintseva in three sets on Saturday.

The loss means the extension of a poor record on grass for the Pole, who has only reached the second week at SW19 thrice so far in five appearances with a quarterfinal finish (2023) as her best run at the tournament.

Swiatek started strong in the match, taking the opening set 6-3 despite a late fightback from the Kazakh. In the second set, however, just as the rain started to thump down on the roof on Court No. 1, the five-time Grand Slam champion started to falter. From 1-1, she lost five games in a row to lose the set 1-6.

Yulia Putintseva then made it nine games on the trot, racing to a 4-0 lead in the decider with a double break of serve. Although the top seed managed to get on the scoreboard after that, it was not enough on the day, as Putintseva consolidated to wrap up the set 6-2 on her third match point, and with it the match.

Wimbledon, therfore, remains Swiatek’s worst Grand Slam on the tour. At the French Open, the World No. 1 has a semifinal run to show for. At the French Open, she has won the title four times, including this year, while she won the US Open in 2022.

This year, barring the French Open, Swiatek has not had the best time at Majors either. In Melbourne, she lost in the third round as well, falling to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in surprise fashion.