Poland’s Iga Swiatek returns to Croatia’s Petra Martic in a ladies’s singles match on day 5 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London on July 7, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
An avid reader, Iga Swiatek is aware of the best way to contextualise her Wimbledon experiences.
Her third-round exit final yr after profitable the French Open was a disappointment. The top-ranked Swiatek cleared that hurdle Friday at the All England Club, dispatching 30th-seeded Petra Martic 6-2, 7-5 to succeed in the fourth spherical.
“It’s just a totally different chapter,” the 22-year-old Pole said.
The four-time Grand Slam champion can reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal when she faces 14th-seeded Belinda Bencic on Sunday.
Swiatek has said she felt a lot of pressure last year from high expectations and the 35-match winning streak she carried into Wimbledon.
“I do feel more relaxed. I think also because I won Roland Garros and I feel like after that the pressure is a little bit off because I reached my goal kind of for the season,” she said.
“I don’t have to think about anything else other than playing. … I feel like I have more kind of, I don’t know, free space in my head to develop my game and to work on my skills on grass.”
Unlike the boys’s facet, the place seven-time winner Novak Djokovic is a heavy favourite, the ladies’s subject is more durable to handicap.
The high three seeds — Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Elena Rybakina — are displaying indicators of changing into a “ Big Three.”
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates defeating Varvara Gracheva of France within the ladies’s singles match on day 5 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London on July 7, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion who was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2021, superior to the third spherical with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Varvara Gracheva.
Madison Keys, who beat Viktorija Golubic 7-5, 6-Three to succeed in the third spherical, stated the “Big Three” title is deserved.
“They are obviously at the top of the game right now, so I think it’s a great term to describe the three of them,” stated the American, who is seeded 25th.
After the highest three seeds, there’s No. 4 Jessica Pegula, who superior to the fourth spherical with a 6-4, 6-Zero victory over Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Caroline Garcia of France turned the highest-seeded girl to exit. The fifth-seeded participant misplaced 7-6 (0), 4-6, 7-5 to 32nd-seeded Marie Bouzkova within the third spherical.
Star struck
Ons Jabeur, the No. 6 seed and runner-up to Rybakina a yr in the past, wanted solely 45 minutes to get previous Bai Zhuoxuan of China 6-1, 6-1 to succeed in the third spherical.
The Tunisian participant was happy with the win, in fact, but additionally pleased to speak about assembly David Beckham two days earlier.
“Oh, amazing. Such an amazing person,” stated Jabeur, a giant soccer fan and a former participant herself. “I was really looking forward to meet him. We talked about football, about his daughter, tennis in general. Him maybe watching a couple matches in U.S. So let’s see.”
