Iga Swiatek suffered a shock straight-sets defeat to Alize Cornet to join Coco Gauff in exiting Wimbledon on the sixth day of the Championships.
The world number one had not lost since February when she went down to Jelena Ostapenko in Dubai but was out of sorts against her French opponent on Court One and saw her 37-match winning streak snapped.
Swiatek made 32 unforced errors to lose 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 32 minutes in the third round at the All England Club.
Causing an upset on No.1 Court 🤝 @alizecornet
A moment to cherish for the Frenchwoman 🇫🇷#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/bHnVnxIQ80— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2022
Advertisement
An upset was on the cards early on when Cornet, who made the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January, broke the first seed twice early on.
Even though Swiatek did break back, it was the experienced Frenchwomen who held her nerve to win the opener in 52 minutes with a forehand smash.
When Polish star Swiatek moved 2-0 up at the beginning of the second, the comeback seemed on but Cornet continued to force the French Open winner into long rallies and eventually wore her down to secure a memorable victory.
It brought back memories for the 32-year-old after she also stunned Serena Williams on this court back in 2014.
Same smile, eight years apart 😀#Wimbledon | @alizecornet pic.twitter.com/z3NiYq11tz
Advertisement— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2022
Cornet said on-court: “I have no words. It reminds me of the time I beat Serena on this court eight years ago so you guys are lucky for me.
“I just want to say I am a huge fan of Iga. I am very flattered I got to beat her today.
“I am like the good wine in France. Good wine always ages well.”
Roland Garros runner-up Gauff failed to make the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time after she went down to fellow American Amanda Anisimova on Centre Court.
The teenager rose to prominence by making the last 16 at the All England Club in 2019 at the age of 15 with a run that included a victory over Venus Williams.
Gauff also made the fourth round last year but could not handle the level of 20th seed Anisimova, who clinched a 6-7 (4) 6-2 6-1 win.
This meeting between the Americans was a repeat of the 2017 US Open junior final, which Anisimova won, but it was Gauff who won a close opening set here.
Gauff edged the tie-breaker but had little answer to the world number 25 who claimed success with a fine backhand winner.
It has put Anisimova, who made the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2019, through to the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.
The 20-year-old was full of emotion as she lay down on the grass at the conclusion of two hours and seven minutes of tennis.
Anisimova was able to compose herself for an on-court interview where she admitted: “It is the most special day of my career.
“It is just a huge privilege to play on this court, I was so excited and to play Coco, an amazing player.
"It was the most special day of my career"
A Centre Court debut to be proud of, @AnisimovaAmanda 👏#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/wSyd9Jctyo— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2022
“Before I was just trying to prepare myself to take it in, win or lose, so to win is so special.”
Next up for Anisimova is Harmony Tan after she breezed to victory inside an hour against Britain’s Katie Boulter.
Meanwhile, Ajla Tomljanovic took out 13th seed Barbora Krejcikova to book a last-16 meeting with Cornet.
Tomljanovic, who made the quarter-finals in 2021 after she progressed past Emma Raducanu, won 2-6 6-4 6-3 in just over two hours.
