Iga Swiatek

Frustrated by low bounces on the grass courts that took away her most powerful weapons, the top-seeded women's singles player lost in straight sets to Alizé ...

Swiatek dropped her chin and walked to her chair for the changeover. Clay still reigns in her mind, but after she won the Miami Open in April, two weeks after winning Indian Wells, she said hard courts were a very very close second. After she won the French Open in early June, she faced the choice of playing a warm-up tournament or two to get more comfortable on her least favorite surface or taking a break and arriving at Wimbledon feeling refreshed. She chose to rest and hoped that her cresting confidence would help her solve the puzzle of grass. Swiatek rallied her way onto the scoreboard, but Cornet never gave up the advantage and finished off the first set with an emphatic overhead. Another streak could be in the offing. On Saturday afternoon, she reverted to Plan A, trying to hit Cornet off the court. Swiatek, though, always figured the grass court season might spell the end of her streak. After losing the first set, Swiatek seemed to right things quickly, and surged to a 2-0 lead. In March and April she won the so-called Sunshine Double — the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., and the Miami Open. Only three other women had done that before. At the French Open, she lost just one set. Hopelessness sets in, and getting off the court as quickly as possible can feel like the best and only alternative, even though it isn’t.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek entered her fourth-round match at Wimbledon on a 37-match winning streak and hadn't lost since Feb. 16 against Jelena Ostapenko in ...

“It's just a huge privilege to play on this court ... playing Coco. She's an amazing player and just got to the finals of a Grand Slam. Before the match, I was just trying to prepare myself to soak in this moment whether I win or lose. “I think the worst thing for a tennis player is to lose 7-6 in the first set ... It's really important to just bounce back and give everything I have. “It's my first time playing on Centre Court. It's the most special day, I think, of my career," Anisimova said in her on-court interview. Anisimova will next face France's Harmony Tan, who upset Serena in the first round and whose career-defining tournament continued with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Great Britain's Katie Boulter in Round 3. She feels a little less comfortable than on those other surfaces so I was just believing very hard, I was very focused and I have the best team by my side and the best crowd. The all-time winning streak is held by Martina Navratilova, who had 74 successive victories in 1984. The No. 37-ranked Cornet played solid and steady, winning 68% of points on her second serve. I need to process because...I’m not completely realizing what’s happening right now.” “I think this court is a lucky charm for me. “I have no words right now, it reminds me of the time I beat Serena on the same court eight years ago exactly,” said Cornet, 32. “I knew I could do it,” she said. But first of all I want to say I’m a huge fan of Iga. I mean, she is just so talented and such an amazing player and such a nice ambassador of women’s tennis so I’m just very flattered that I beat her today.”

Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek, ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association, was defeated by France's Alizé Cornet at Wimbledon Saturday, ...

With the victory, Cornet improves to 4-3 in her career against world no. In 2014, the Frenchwoman defeated then No. 1 Serena Williams at Court One to advance to her first career Round of 16 of the grand slam. Swiatek, who lost to Cornet, 6-4 6-2, in the third round match, started slow in the opening set dropping the first three games before battling back and taking the next two.

On Saturday, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek lost in the third round -- an upset few, if any, predicted. What happened? We break it down.

In the work she has been doing with her sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, Swiatek said she has been preparing for how she'll feel when she loses. When Alize Cornet beat then world No. 1 Serena Williams at the same stage and on the same No. 1 Court in 2014, she explained that her secret was putting one more ball in the court and "annoying" Serena in the process. She is too good not to get there eventually, but it might take her a few years before she's really competing for the title.

It went through Qatar, California, Florida, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. It had an unforeseen ball in an indomitable era. It wowed tennis ...

She was powerful and masterful as she tried to “soak in every moment that I had” on her first Centre Court trip, including the ending, of which she said, “Especially after last year, I wouldn’t have pictured myself in this position.” She posed for umpteen selfies and signed umpteen autographs, a bustling signal of her budded stature, and she said: “For me, it’s crazy that people get nervous to meet me ’cause I’m not — well I guess the way I watch myself on the court, I do look intimidating. I was able to somehow find a way to win that set (from 4-1 down in the tiebreaker). For me, that just shows improvement in that aspect.” Wimbledon starts: The season’s third Grand Slam returns in full with big crowds, roars and a little rain. As she walked through with the gathering blob of life around her, her opponent had fallen — onto the grass in wonder. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek raced to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Coco Gauff in 68 minutes to claim her second Grand Slam. Off the court I’m not intimidating, so I try to tell them: ‘Just chill out. Tsurenko beat fellow Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina in the second round. I want to enjoy for a few hours, not knowing what’s next, not envisioning and be like, I’m going to play her, blah, blah, blah. She reached the third round at the French. She’s not sure, but she thinks it might be this: “I think that’s why I’m playing so good. She reached her first major quarterfinal ( at the 2022 Australian Open) in her 63rd major try. On a Saturday when this Wimbledon lost both its French Open women’s finalists in the third round, No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 11 Coco Gauff, Swiatek’s towering streak died as streaks do now and then: in a hasty fizzle.

Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 ranked women's singles player in the world, lost in straight sets this Saturday to Alize Cornet. As a result, her 37-match win streak ...

To be fair, Swiatek showed flaws in her game during the second round. That being said, her recent success didn't carry over to the grass court. The blueprint to defeat her was there for the taking.

Upsets aren't uncommon in the tennis world -- even the greatest players of all time don't regularly run of long strings of tournament victories.

Upsets aren't uncommon in the tennis world -- even the greatest players of all time don't regularly run of long strings of tournament victories. I was pretty confused about my tactics," Swiatek said after the match. "I have no words right now.

Iga Swiatek was unbeaten since February, compiling 37 consecutive match wins and six consecutive titles.

"I'm like good wine," Cornet said. It reminds me of the time I beat Serena on the same court, eight years ago exactly," Cornet said. "This court is a lucky charm for me." "It really drives me. I was pretty confused about my tactics," said Swiatek, a two-time French Open champion who has never advanced past the fourth round at the All England Club. After one missed forehand return, she swatted the toes of her right shoe with her racket.