Swiatek prevails against Martic, sets up Wimbledon clash with Bencic

Iga Swiatek overcame a tough encounter against Petra Martic in the third round of 2022 Wimbledon, winning 6-2, 7-5.

The world No. 1 secured another victory at Wimbledon against 30th seed Petra Martic.

Swiatek continues to be dominant on grass and asserted her favoritism against the Croatian player. Martic entered the match with wins over Linda Fruhvirtova and Diane Parry, and she was coming off a strong performance at the Eastbourne Open where she reached the quarterfinals after going through qualifying.

In the first set, Swiatek took an early break in the third game, but Martic immediately broke back to level the score at 2-2. However, Swiatek stepped up her game and won four consecutive games to take the first set 6-2.

The 4-time Grand Slam champion had an impressive serving performance, with a 73% first serve accuracy and winning 59% of those points, along with a 50% success rate on her second serves. Martic faced more difficulties with her serve, as she had a 65% first serve accuracy but only won 40% of those points, and her second serve dropped to 25%. Swiatek capitalized on three out of the four break points she had, while also saving three of the four break points against her.

In the second set, Swiatek took an early break in the seventh game and extended her lead to 5-3. Although she had a match point in the following game, Martic showed resilience and fought back to make it 5-4, with Swiatek serving. When Swiatek served to close out the match, Martic broke her serve to add some suspense to the set.

However, Martic couldn't maintain her serve, and Swiatek served again to close out the match. This time, Swiatek didn't hesitate and took advantage of her second match point to advance to the fourth round.

In the next round, Swiatek will face 14th seed Belinda Bencic from Switzerland, who has had two impressive victories over Danielle Collins and Magda Linette. The gold medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is aiming to reach the fourth round for the third time in her career, following her eliminations in 2015 and 2018.