The world number one and top favorite Iga Swiatek suffered an early retirement at Wimbledon. On Saturday, the Polish lost 4:6,2:6 to the experienced French player Alice Cornet in the third round of the tennis classic, suffering her first defeat after 37 consecutive victories. Swiatek had won the French Open and the previous five tournaments. The Swiss Martina Hingis last celebrated 37 victories in a row on the WTA tour in 1997.
21-year-old Swiatek made more than 30 unforced errors in the game, being repeatedly attacked by Cornet on her second serve. The 32-year-old has never made it past the round of 16 at Wimbledon, but had already beaten American superstar Serena Williams at the tournament. “I’m at a loss for words, it reminds me of beating Serena on the same pitch,” said Cornet, who will face Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) in the next round. “I’m a big fan of Iga, she’s so talented and such a nice tennis ambassador. I’m flattered that I beat her.”
Meanwhile, Frenchwoman Harmony Tan continued her surprising triumph. The first-round conqueror of Serena Williams won 6: 1, 6: 1 in 51 minutes against the British Katie Boulter and reached the round of 16 for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament. “I still can’t believe it. It’s great,” said 24-year-old Tan. “It was really emotional in the first round against Serena. Today it was really good tennis, I don’t know why myself.”
Tan defeated Williams in their singles comeback after a year out through injury in the first round and meets Amanda Anisimova. In the end, the 20-year-old American won 6:7(4),6:2,6:1 against her compatriot Coco Gauff, who was two years younger. Gauff had always reached the round of 16 in Wimbledon and was considered a possible title contender at the French Open after reaching the final.
Among the men, Alex De Minaur, ranked number 19, was safe. The 23-year-old Australian beat British wildcard Liam Broady 6:3,6:4,7:5 and meets unseeded Chilean Cristian Garin in his first Wimbledon round of 16. It is also a first for the US Wimbledon number 11, Taylor Fritz, in the round of 16. The 24-year-old threw the Slovakian Alex Molcan out of the competition with 6:4.6:1.7:6(3) and now has to deal with the Australian second-round conqueror of Dennis Novak, Jason Kubler, who is in a duel between two qualifiers Jack Sock (USA) eliminated in five sets.