World No.1 Iga Swiatek beat Croatian Petra Martic (29th) 6-2, 7-5 on Friday in the third round of Wimbledon and will find the round of 16 as in 2021. “It was not easy, but I tried to stay focused from start to finish. And it was tight at the end!” said the 20-year-old Polish who will face Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (14th) for a place in the quarterfinals.
Swiatek never made it past the round of 16 on the London turf and lost in the third round last year. Titled at Roland-Garros in 2020, 2022 and 2023 as well as at the US Open 2022, she is one of Wimbledon’s favorites this year, alongside defending champion Elena Rybakina (3rd in the world) and Aryna Sabalenka (3rd).
Against Martic, while she was close to closing the match on her opponent’s serve at 5-3 with a first match point, the Pole finally had to serve at 5-4. But instead of concluding, she made a very bad service game, conceded white, and allowed the Croatian to come back to 5-5. Despite this setback, Swiatek won the next two games and ended the game on his fourth match point.
