Yulia Putintseva said there wasn’t a major secret behind her shock win over Iga Swiatek as her game plan was simply to “play fast” and see what would happen if the five-time Grand Slam champion had less time to pick her spots and play shots.
On Saturday, 29-year-old Putintseva clinched one of the biggest wins of her career after coming back from a set down to upset top-seeded Swiatek 3-6 6-1 6-2 in the Wimbledon third round.
Going into the match, Swiatek had been yet to lose since April and she was on a 21-match winning streak before world No. 35 Putintseva laid that huge streak to rest.
“I was just focused on playing fast, and not giving her any time, and that worked, and that’s pretty much it,” Putintseva said after the match.
Putintseva on the turning point in the match against Swiatek
After Swiatek broke Putintseva in the sixth game of the first set and then held on to her serve for the remainder of the set, she and the Kazakh were tied to one game apiece after the first two games of the second set. Then, Putintseva went on to win the next nine games – overturn the deficit – and open a 3-6 6-1 4-0 lead before serving out for the match in the eighth game of the third set.
“When the turning point happened, I start to play, like, really, really good. At some point, I was playing fearless. I was just, ‘I can do it, I have to believe 100 percent,'” Putintseva said.
For former world No. 27 Putintseva, this was her first win over Swiatek after five meetings.
“I think, yeah, today I’m happy, extra happy, because she didn’t lose it; I took it. Like, I was playing really well. This is for me the most important,” Putintseva added.
Putintseva plays next against Jelena Ostapenko.