Wimbledon 2022: Alize Cornet stuns Iga Swiatek to bring an end to world No. 1’s 37-game winning run

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.

Swiatek cut a frustrated figure early on, and a kick of her racquet was a surprise show of temperament from the world No. 1.

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.

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