Swiatek saves match points to beat Bencic; into first Wimbledon quarterfinal

World No.1 Iga Swiatek saved two match points to defeat No.14 Belinda Bencic 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 6-3 to advance to her first Wimbledon quarterfinal. The victory is Swiatek’s 14th consecutive win and booked her a place in her ninth straight quarterfinal. The 21-year-old Pole is the youngest player to make the quarterfinals at all four majors since Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Swiatek will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina for a spot in the semifinals. Svitolina endured her own dramatic victory, defeating former No.1 Victoria Azarenka in a deciding tiebreak. Swiatek won their only previous match, a straight-set win on the clay at 2021 Rome.

Swiatek held a 2-1 edge in the head-to-head record against Bencic, but the Swiss Olympic champion has consistently played her close, including an intense 6-3, 7-6(3) contest at the United Cup in January. Two of their three previous matches were decided by a pivotal tiebreak set.

With confident ball-striking, Bencic raced to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreak before closing it out on her fourth set point to hand Swiatek her loss of a set at this year’s Championships.

“Usually I’m using my chances,” Swiatek said. “I had six break points. I felt like I’m more solid. I still lost the set.

“I didn’t want to focus on that in the second and third. It stayed in my head a little bit. I felt like I should have been the one that won that set, but it doesn’t work like that. I thought there’s no sense to kind of think about that. I just wanted to go forward and have no regrets.”