Yulia Putintseva made the upset in the Women’s Singles at Wimbledon 2024. She beat the No.1 seeded player Iga Swiatek losing in the third round to world No.35 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday. She is a five-time grand slam champion, with four championships on red clay. The most recent coming last month, and one on hard courts at the US Open.
But she has failed to perform in the grass court. The grass at All England Club has always been a challenge for the 23-year-old Polish international. Despite winning the junior trophy as a teenager. It is only once been as far as the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, back in 2023. She has struggled over the years in the grass courts. It has been very visible for a player who has led the WTA rankings for nearly every week since April 2022.
Swiatek started the match in her very usual way, dominating the 35th seed and breaking her serve twice. But as the match progressed, Putintseva raised her game after losing the first set by 3-6. The 29-year-old player never gave a chance to the World No.1 from the second set winning by 6-1 and then the last by 6-2.
Iga Swiatek’s over-confidence lets her down
The question once again arises as the Polish’s winning strike rate on clay is near 90 percent, it dips to 66 percent on grass. She has never won a single major event on the very same court. She needs to upgrade her skills to win any major title in the grass court. The downfall has been eye-catching for any fans and that is the reason she might also be ‘highly overrated’ outside the clay surfaces.
Swiatek did not take any preparatory event on the surface before coming to Wimbledon. Her coaching staff needs to step up on occasions on such major events to win the tournaments and just not get outplayed by an unseeded player. She is still young and has the time to learn with lots of potential she might turn around as well.
