June 30, (THEWILL) – On Thursday at Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek, the current world number one, took her winning streak to 37 matches, but her most recent triumph came after a protracted battle.
Swiatek defeated Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 but her Dutch challenger pushed her to produce her best in a match that stretched to just over two hours on the number one Court of the All-England Club. Fortunately, the Pole had enough in the tank to overcome the 30-year-old’s valiant effort and advance to the third round of the SW19 tournament for the second consecutive year.
Even though it was Kerkhove’s first match against a Top 10 player, the world number 138 was unfazed in only her sixth Grand Slam main-draw match overall. Kerkhove was in the Wimbledon second round for the second consecutive year. Still, Swiatek needed to take the final four games before claiming the first set. But, Kerkhove took the opening break in the second game, and this time the Dutch player did not back down after leading 4-3.
Swiatek ultimately grabbed control of the match in the final, broke for 3-1 with a rally-winning forehand. That was all the top seed needed to win, and she did so by outplaying Kerkhove’s winners 31 to 15.
The 21-year-old has now overtaken Monica Seles’ 36-match winning run from 1990 and tied Martina Hingis’ 37-match winning streak from the start of the 1997 season. In the next round, Swiatek will play Alizé Cornet of France, who earlier on Thursday defeated American Claire Liu 6-3, 6-3.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
