Wimbledon 2022: After 37 wins on a trot, 'confused' Iga Swiatek humbled on grass

A forehand into the net; her 33rd unforced error. That’s how Iga Swiatek’s incredible streak of 37 wins, the best this century, came to an end. The forehand has been her bread-and-butter, her piece de resistance as Swiatek scaled incredible heights these past four months. But in the third round of Wimbledon, against veteran Alize Cornet, it was out of sorts. So was Swiatek, as she went down 4-6, 2-6 to Cornet in an hour and 33 minutes on Saturday. For the first time in four months, the Pole had tasted defeat. “What can I say? I mean, I know I didn’t play good tennis,” admitted Swiatek in the aftermath. “I was pretty confused about my tactics. As a solid player, she used that pretty well. For sure, it wasn’t good performance for me.”

IGA FULL POST-MATCH PRESSER, R3 LOSS@Iga_Swiatek | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/nBX58HKfmf

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 2, 2022

During last month’s French Open, a poster from a fan read, ‘She may never lose again.’ That was the kind of aura Swiatek had built during the streak, which started at the Qatar Open in February and rolled into the grass season. In the meantime, Swiatek had taken over as the World No 1 from Ashleigh Barty, who retired at the age of 25, and won six titles, including the French Open. Swiatek had worn the cloak of invincibility on hard and clay courts; but if she was going to be vulnerable, it would probably be on grass. The slick grass blunts her top spin and robs her of time to load her big groundstrokes. Swiatek, mentally and physically drained from winning the French Open, chose to come into Wimbledon cold, without playing a single tune-up event on grass.

Top seed toppled ✅@alizecornet produces a stunning performance to break world No.1 Iga Swiatek’s 37-match winning streak#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/QcJOx0Ah3t

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2022

A quite remarkable unbeaten run comes to an end

What a ride it was, @iga_swiatek 👏#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/LIAh1kXf4t

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2022

More from Tennis

How long will Djokovic continue playing? Tennis icon drops big statement: 'US Open sounded bit like a goodbye' 'Where the hell are the rest?': Boris Becker blasts rivals for failing to challenge Alcaraz and Sinner

The unfamiliarity of the surface was apparent even in the second round when she struggled past lucky loser Lesley Kerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Cornet preyed on her opponent’s lack of belief and inexperience – Swiatek is playing only her third Wimbledon. The Frenchwoman is far from a grass court specialist. But she has the heart and legs to keep going, keep defending, which is an asset now even on this surface as Wimbledon’s grass has slowed down considerably since the 1990s. At the age of 32, possibly her last full year on tour, Cornet is having the best Grand Slam season of her career. By competing at Wimbledon, she matched Ai Sugiyama’s mark of 62 for most consecutive Grand Slam appearances. Earlier this year, she reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time when she made the last eight of the Australian Open. Cornet, who released her debut novel this year, is already thinking of life beyond tennis. “I think that’s why I’m playing so good, it’s because I know it’s almost the end,” she said on Saturday. “It’s a big pride for me to win this match against Iga. I mean, what she’s done this year is out of this world, and I can’t believe I’m the one that actually broke the streak.” Cornet is also experienced in the art of toppling a top seed. Eight years ago, she defeated then World No 1 Serena Williams, also on Court 1 at Wimbledon. She revelled in her ‘underdog’ status against Swiatek this time around. While the pressure of maintaining the winning streak and being the top seed weighed heavily on Swiatek, Cornet was allowed to play her game freely. She knew she had to keep the ball in play long enough and often enough to let the pressure build on World No 1. The Frenchwoman made only seven unforced errors throughout the match, while hitting 17 winners. Swiatek, meanwhile, finished with 21 winners and 33 unforced errors. The battle-hardened Cornet kept her nerve even when Swiatek pushed back. In the opening set, Cornet raced to a 3-0 lead before the Pole got one break back in a protracted fourth game, which lasted for more than seven minutes. Cornet, who specialises in redirecting pace, kept attacking Swiatek’s backhand, putting it under pressure and also making the Pole anxious to finish off the point whenever she got the opportunity to unleash her forehand. Even though Swiatek responded well to losing the opening set, by taking a 2-0 lead in the second, Cornet reeled off six straight games to pull the rug from under the top seed. With each point, and each game, she lost in the second set, Swiatek’s belief visibly drained. At 4-2, she failed to finish off the point with an overhead smash – looping the ball in Cornet’s backhand corner instead. When Cornet replied with another lob, a shaken Swiatek hit it almost right at the Frenchwoman and well outside the court. A wry smile from the top seed told the tale. For four months she hadn’t put a foot wrong; on the day she could seemingly do nothing right. “On grass court everything happens so quickly,” she said. “I can’t just use my topspin and put back these balls and just run the point and hope being solid, sometimes pushing the ball, is going to give the right effect. So here I didn’t have any idea. I didn’t tank it, but I just didn’t know what to do.” The apparent confusion about whether to stay solid or push through persisted till the very last point as Swiatek put a final forehand into the net. As all good things do, the Swiatek streak had come to an end. But the Pole walked back with the head held high. At 20, she has a few more outings on grass, and at Wimbledon, ahead of her. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.