Novak Djokovic seeks 2024 answers for Alcaraz and Sinner after great effort: 4 ATP Wimbledon takeaways

On set point in the second set, Yulia Putintseva fired a forehand winner with such confidence and command that you’d have thought her opponent was utterly overmatched, not fit to be on the same court as the 29-year-old from Kazakhstan.

Yet this opponent was Iga Swiatek, the clear-cut No. 1 player in the world, and who carried a 21-match win streak into this contest.

Yet Swiatek was overmatched.

After dropping the first set 6-3, Putintseva somehow never looked back, taking the second and third sets by never-in-doubt, 6-1, 6-2 scorelines. It is just the fourth time in 109 matches, since the start of 2023, that Swiatek has lost after winning the first set.

Putintseva will face Jelena Ostapenko for a spot in the quarterfinals.

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Other stunning statistics from this third-round stunner:

Swiatek, as consistent as they come, made 38 unforced errors compared to Putintseva's 15.
With Swiatek serving down 5-1 in the third set, and trailing 0-15, the forehand error count read: Putintseva 2, Swiatek 28.
In the third set, with the pressure at its apex, Putintseva made just 3 unforced errors (Swiatek tallied 15).

"She looks very lost," Rennae Stubbs said at one point on ESPN commentary, of course referring to Swiatek.

In five appearances at Wimbledon, the four-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek has only reached the fourth round twice.

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Putintseva is unseeded, though she's hardly on equal footing with players without a number by her name. The world No. 35 entered Wimbledon 28-15 on the season, including quarterfinal showings in Miami and Madrid, and a tune-up title in Birmingham. She's an all-surface threat—a label Swiatek is trying to earn.

A major storyline heading into The Championships was Swiatek's inability to translate her exceptional game to grass. She has reached 26 tour-level finals, but none on grass. Her record at Wimbledon is dismal compared to the other Slams; in five appearances, she's reached the fourth round just twice.

Is Iga Swiatek ready to win a Grand Slam title on grass? That was the first question Steve Tignor asked about the women’s tournament—as "everything else right now is contingent on the answer."

Not yet.

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