Iga Swiatek’s Wimbledon hopes went up in flames as the world number one disintegrated under huge pressure from fiery Kazakh Yulia Putintseva who battled back superbly to win their third-round clash 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday.
Swiatek appeared to be cruising when she took the first set without having to get out of second gear, but the wheels came off in spectacular fashion.
Putintseva broke the top-seeded Pole twice in the second set and twice more in the third to set up a fourth-round clash against Jelena Ostapenko.
In the other match, local favourite Harriet Dart wiped away tears at the net after she failed to break down the solid defence of China’s Wang Xinyu, losing her third-round match 2-6 7-5 6-3.
Dart, who knocked out compatriot and 32nd seed Katie Boulter earlier this week, could not hide her emotion before congratulating 22-year-old Wang, at 42 ranked 58 places above the Briton.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com