Iga Swiatek reaches Wimbledon quarterfinals

WIMBLEDON, England — Twice, Iga Swiatek was a single point from exiting Wimbledon on Sunday, a single point from the sort of confounding defeat at the place that gives her so much more trouble than any of the other Grand Slam tournaments.

Down a set and 6-5 in the second against Belinda Bencic, the No. 1-ranked Swiatek steeled herself and dispensed with the pair of match points. She erased the first with a booming forehand, the second with a forceful backhand, and soon enough, Swiatek was not just back in the contest, she was controlling it.

Frustrated in the late afternoon sunshine at Centre Court, so close to defeat in the early evening shadows, Swiatek managed to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by coming back for a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over the 14th-seeded Bencic.

"I threw everything I could at her," Bencic said, "and I pushed her to the limit." Swiatek, a 22-year-old from Poland who will face wild-card entry Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a semifinal berth, extended her unbeaten run to 14 matches, which includes claiming her fourth major title at the French Open last month.

Swiatek has won three championships at Roland Garros, and one at the US Open, but she never before had been past the fourth round at the All England Club. Last year, she had a 37-match winning streak snapped during a third-round Wimbledon loss.

So comfortable on the red clay of Paris, so capable on the hard courts in New York — and at the Australian Open, where she has made it to the semifinals — Swiatek is just not quite the same player yet on the grass used at the year's third Grand Slam tournament.

"I wasn't sure that it's going to end that way. I'm happy that I kind of kept my belief and I just played and I didn't look back," Swiatek said.

"For sure this match is going to give me more belief. I'm happy that it was really tight and I could still play my game. These are important moments, for sure. You have to kind of take all the positive stuff from matches like that."

Svitolina, a 2019 semifinalist at Wimbledon who had a baby last October and returned to the tour this April, advanced Sunday by edging two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).

"After giving birth to our daughter, this is the second-happiest moment in my life," Svitolina said.

AP