Wimbledon 2022: Alize Cornet stuns Iga Swiatek to bring an end to world No. 1's 37-game winning run
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Updated 03/07/2022 at 12:28 GMT
Having carried all before her for months, Iga Swiatek arrived on No. 1 Court on Saturday afternoon protecting a 37-game winning run, but she found Alize Cornet too hot to handle. Watch daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and discovery+ from June 27, as well as the two singles finals live on July 9 and 10.
'I still need to figure out grass' - Top seed Swiatek
Alize Cornet caused one of the shocks of 2022 by dumping world No. 1 Iga Swiatek out of Wimbledon at the third-round stage.
Swiatek stepped onto No. 1 Court looking to extend her winning streak to 38 games, which would have moved her second on the all-time list behind Steffi Graff’s 66-match run in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
But she bumped into a Frenchwoman in an indomitable mood as Cornet claimed a 6-4 6-2 win to set up a clash with Ajla Tomljanovic in round four.
Cornet feels that at the age of 32, she may be progressing like a vintage red wine from her native land.
"I’m like good wine," Cornet said. "In France good wine always ages well.
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"It’s unreal, I’m playing one of the best seasons of my career. I feel great on the court. I’m having so much fun and I feel good physically - well, nearly good.
"Eight years after my first qualification to the second week I can see I’m still there, I’m still so motivated and I still have the fire in me and I hope you guys enjoyed the match."
Swiatek cut a frustrated figure early on, and a kick of her racquet was a surprise show of temperament from the world No. 1.
Later she admitted to feeling "confused" during the match.
She said: "I couldn’t control the ball, so I needed to slow down a little bit.
"But then in the second set, I made a few attempts to speed up again and it didn’t work out. I didn’t come back to being solid.
"When you play aggressively and you suddenly change the way you play, it’s not easy to keep that.
"So I got a little bit confused.”
As the wind blew and Swiatek squandered break points in the fourth game, the French Open champion was seen chuntering in the direction of her box. But as well as being extremely talented, she is strong mentally and got the break at the fourth time of asking.
Swiatek began to hit with more authority, but that seemed to suit her French opponent who soaked it up and returned with interest.
Cornet showed signs of pressure when a serve did not even reach the bottom of the net. But she batted away the nerves to take the opening set when a deep forehand forced a desperate lob from Swiatek, which Cornet powered back to inflict only the fourth loss of a set on the Pole since March.
Swiatek came under huge pressure at the start of the second set, as she found Cornet once again absorbing her power and returning with interest.
The world No. 1 kept ramping up the pace and saved break points to hold in the opening game.
It appeared Swiatek had found a foothold in the match when breaking her opponent’s serve in the second game, but Cornet hit back. She worked a break point with a deft drop-volley and took it when a backhand hit the back of the baseline.
Swiatek's response was to hit the ball harder. It did not pay off, as Cornet kept getting the ball back and either waited for the errors to arrive from the No. 1 seed or smacked clean winners of her own - which was the case in the fifth game of the second set.
Cornet consolidated the break of serve in the sixth game. Nerves could have played a part but she was able to draw on memories of wins over the likes of Serena Williams at Wimbledon to close out the win over an admittedly out-of-sorts Swiatek.
Victory over Williams in 2014 was at the forefront of Cornet's mind following her win over Swiatek.
"It reminds me of the time I beat Serena on the same court eight years ago exactly," Cornet said. "I think this court is a lucky charm for me.
"But first of all I want to say I’m a huge fan of Iga. She’s just so talented, and she’s such an amazing player, and a nice ambassador for women’s tennis. So I'm just very flattered that I beat her today."
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Watch daily highlights from Wimbledon at 10pm on Eurosport 2 and discovery+ from June 27, as well as the two singles finals live on July 9 and 10.
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