Putintseva, who came into the fortnight unseeded, had her own challenges with the green stuff in her career, but came into SW19 with more surface time than Swiatek: The mercurial Kazakh, as part of a resurgent season, won her third career WTA singles title, and first on grass, weeks earlier in Birmingham. She joked afterwards that she might be the WTA’s newest grass-court specialist.
But what Putintseva is, seriously, is an all-surface threat, and her ability to manipulate speeds and spins befuddled Swiatek in the second and third sets of the 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 stunner.
The at-the-time world No. 1 made 38 unforced errors compared to Putintseva’s 15, and by one stage in the third set, Swiatek had tallied 28 forehand miscues to Putintseva’s two.
1. Zheng Qinwen def. Iga Swiatek, Paris Olympics SF
While figuring out grass courts is a goal for Swiatek for the long-term, one of her short-term goals coming into 2024 was to win an Olympic medal. Swiatek’s father, Tomasz, competed in rowing at the Olympics for Poland, and after Swiatek was bundled out of her first Games in the second round three years ago, she left Tokyo in tears.
With the 2024 Paris Olympics being held on Swiatek’s favorite surface, at her favorite venue of Roland Garros, she was ready for redemption. It was safe to say that there might not have been a bigger pre-tournament favorite anywhere in recent memory.
But Zheng Qinwen had other ideas. Though she was winless aganst Swiatek in six prior matches (though she’d won three sets), all previous history can be tossed aside when adding the unique pressures that come with wearing one’s national colors.
