Wimbledon: Iga Swiatek overcame two match points before overcoming Belinda Bencic in a long battle to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.
Swiatek appeared defeated when she was 15-40 down at 6-5 in the second set, but she responded with two exquisite winners to win the match.
In a gruelling third set, the four-time Grand Slam champion was pushed all the way by Olympic gold medalist Bencic before ultimately winning 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 following a three-hour epic on Centre Court.
Iga Swiatek, a #Wimbledon quarter-finalist for the first time 👏 pic.twitter.com/BpL0pPfj3Z
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2023
Swiatek advanced to the last-eight at the All England Club for the first time, and having previously won the junior championship at SW19, she will march on with fresh confidence that this may be her year on her least favourite surface.
Number one seed Swiatek had advanced to the fourth round without dropping a set, but he ran into difficulties against Bencic early on, having to take a medical time-out after just three games due to a blister.
It didn’t appear to bother the three-time French Open champion, who stayed in command until Bencic turned the tables in the tie-break.
Bencic saved two set points in the tenth game before taking the opening set in 66 minutes.
Swiatek exited the court and returned determined to avoid another departure before the second week in England, with a stunning forehand return gaining a break after a nine-minute opening game.
There was steel in Tokyo 2020 champion Bencic, who broke back to level it 3-3 and then had victory in her grip when 15-40 up at 6-5.
Swiatek came out blazing, delivering equally stunning forehand and backhand wins before repeating the feat to claim the second tie-break.
Swiatek may have believed she had worn down Bencic’s armour, but the Swiss right-hander was able to force another break point chance early in the third.
However, after Swiatek dug deep to hold again, the 14th seed ultimately shattered the resistance with back-to-back double faults.
Swiatek was 0-30 down while serving for the match, but she returned in style with two passing forehand winners, securing her berth in the last-eight.
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