‘I was confused’ – Iga Swiatek baffled by loss as favourites fall at Wimbledon

Iga Swiatek struggled to find the words for why she had her 37-match win streak finally ended on Saturday before the second week of Wimbledon. 

The world number one looked out of sorts for much of the match as an inspired Alizé Cornet took full advantage to win 6-4, 6-2 on Court No. 1. 

Swiatek credited Cornet, but very much put the loss down to her loss of form. 

She began her presser: “I was pretty confused about my tactics.

“As a solid player, [Cornet] used that pretty well.

“For sure, it wasn’t a good performance from me.”

The Pole felt that as she struggled she was forced to adjust her tactics, which appeared to only worsen the situation. 

“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.”

Swiatek, a clear-headed and calm presence on court during her streak, admitted she was close to anger during the match. 

“I was kind of frustrated during my practice week and in the second round.

“I didn’t want to get angry again [today].

“I didn’t think it was going to help me.”

Swiatek was the second in a series of results that saw Roland Garros finalist Coco Gauff and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also ousted on before the fourth round. 

Kvitova entered Wimbledon off the back of a title in Eastbourne and looked to be recapturing the magic that took her to titles at the grass Slam in 2011 and 2014. 

Cornet takes on Ajla Tomljanovic next for a place in the quarter-finals, with the victor set to feature in their maiden Wimbledon quarter-final. 

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