Iga Swiatek fights back at Wimbledon to down Caty McNally, as Jannik Sinner advances
Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates winning her second-round match against Caty McNally of the US.
LONDON - Iga Swiatek may not love the grass but she relishes a battle whatever the surface and showed all that fight and bullish determination as she recovered to beat American Caty McNally 5-7 6-2 6-1 and reach the Wimbledon third round on July 3.
McNally, the world number 208, looked poised to cause an upset when she clawed her way back from 4-1 down to take the first set against the five-times Grand Slam champion.
At that point Swiatek's mediocre record at the All England Club, where the Pole has never gone past the quarter-finals, seemed to be weighing heavily on her shoulders.
But rather than shy away from the scrap, the former world number one flicked a psychological switch that saw her come out for the second set transformed, upping her aggression and playing with a ferocity McNally simply could not handle.
She broke early in the second set and never looked back, losing only three more games to set up a clash with another American Danielle Collins.
'I started the match well so I knew that my game was there,' said Swiatek. 'I knew that at the start of the second set I had to be more accurate. I just tried to improve and I'm happy it worked.'
The eighth seed may have her sights set far higher than the third round, but by reaching the last 32 she underlined her consistency on the big stage.
The 23-year-old is the third player this century to reach the third round in 22 consecutive women's singles Grand Slams after Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams.
Later in the day, Italy's Jannik Sinner swept into the third round as the world number one thrashed Australia's Aleksandar Vukic 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
While several of Wimbledon's top stars have suffered shock exits, including third seed Alexander Zverev and world number four Jack Draper, there has been no hint of an upset in Sinner's opening two matches.
The 23-year-old has dropped just 12 games in demolishing Vukic and Luca Nardi to make the last 32 at the All England Club.
After blowing a two-set lead and three match-points in his agonising French Open final defeat on clay against Carlos Alcaraz in June, Sinner is on a mission to make amends on grass in London.
The three-time Grand Slam champion has never been past the Wimbledon semi-finals in four previous visits.
But the Italian is back in the groove and is on course for a blockbuster clash with world number two Alcaraz in the final on July 13.
The reigning US Open and Australian Open champion next faces another Spaniard Pedro Martinez on July 5. REUTERS, AFP
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