Wimbledon 2024: Swiatek extends win streak to 20 as she reaches third round; Wang causes an upset

London, July 5 (IANS) World No.1 Iga Swiatek methodically dismantled the game of Croatia’s Petra Martic for a 6-4, 6-3 win in the women’s singles second round at Wimbledon 2024 on Thursday. The victory extended Swiatek’s active win streak to 21 and moved her into the third round at the grass-court Grand Slam. She has not lost a match on the WTA Tour since the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in mid-April.
Swiatek became the first player to win more than 20 consecutive matches as World No.1 since Serena Williams between the WTA Finals 2014 and Madrid 2015. She scripted her latest victory on Thursday with former World No.1 Ashleigh Barty in attendance.
The top seed from Poland will face Rothesay Classic champion Yulia Putintseva for a spot in the Round of 16 on Saturday. Swiatek is 4-0 against Putintseva and has won all eight sets they have played.
Swiatek extended her record against Martic to 4-0 with an opportunistic pair of breaks. The duo exchanged holds of serve in the opening set until Swiatek converted on the only break point of the set, breaking with a flurry of relentless forehands to seal the 50-minute set.
Swiatek’s perfectionism nearly got the better of her in the second set. Her frustration was visible as she struggled to break open the score and run away from Martic, who took a bad fall early in the first set that required a medical timeout.
Swiatek put her frustration aside as the second set neared the business end. She buckled down to break Martic to 5-3 and closed out the win with ease.
Wang Xinyu stuns Pegula
World No.42 Wang Xinyu earned her first Top 10 win by defeating No.5 Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-1 in a second-round match on Thursday. Making her third main-draw appearance at Wimbledon, Wang has posted her best result so far at SW19.
A quarterfinalist last year, Pegula came into Wimbledon off a strong run through the grass. At the German Ladies Open in Berlin, Pegula saved five match points in the final to snag her first career grass-court title and first Hologic WTA Tour title this season.
Wang will face either Nottingham champion Katie Boulter or Harriet Dart for a spot in her second Round of 16 at a major. The improving 22-year-old made her first last fall at the US Open.
Wang broke Pegula in the only game with any break-point chances in the first set. Pegula finally broke through on Wang’s service games to build a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Wang’s sustained pressure on return reeled the American back in.
Pegula appeared to seize the momentum after saving four break points to hold for a 5-4 lead. But Wang surged forward with a cool hold at love and then her fourth break of serve of the day.
After failing to serve out the win at 5-4, Wang held off a gritty comeback attempt from Pegula, who came from 3-1 down in the tiebreak to keep the result in the balance until the very end. An ace at 4-4 moved Pegula ahead and she closed out the set after saving one match point.
–IANS
bsk/