Top seed Iga Swiatek suffered a shock third-round exit at Wimbledon as she fell to world number 35 Yulia Putintseva.

Putintseva fought back from a set down to stun Poland's Swiatek 3-6 6-1 6-2.

"It feels really, really great," said Putintseva, who plays Latvian 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the last 16.

"I was feeling it on the court and that is why I was like fire. I was trying to entertain you more and more with my shots."

Elsewhere on Saturday, Tunisian two-time finalist Ons Jabeur lost 6-1 7-6 (7-4) to Ukraine's Elena Svitolina.

Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, defeated Danish wildcard and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki 6-0 6-1.

Swiatek is the dominant player on the WTA Tour after success on clay and hard courts, but has still not got to grips with the Wimbledon grass.

The five-time major winner is known for her clinical brand of tennis, but she hit a rare 34 unforced errors to Putintseva's 18.

The Kazakh, cheered on by a raucous crowd on Court One, wrapped up the victory on her third match point to end Swiatek's 21-match winning streak.

Putintseva has reached the quarter-finals of the French Open and US Open, but had never been beyond the second round at Wimbledon.

It continues a superb grass-court season for the 29-year-old, who won the Birmingham Classic last month.

She will face 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko next after the Latvian claimed a commanding 6-3 6-1 win over American Bernarda Pera.

Meanwhile, grass remains Swiatek's least successful surface, with Wimbledon being the only Grand Slam in which she has not gone past the quarter-finals.

The 23-year-old French Open champion will return to her favoured clay courts to prepare for tennis at this summer's Olympics, which will be hosted at Roland Garros.

Source: BBC 

BDST: 1000 HRS, JULY 07, 2024
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