Iga Swiatek reaches 4th round, matching best Wimbledon result - ESPN

LONDON — An avid reader, Iga Swiatek knows how to contextualize her Wimbledon experiences.

Her third-round exit last year after winning the French Open was a disappointment. The top-ranked Swiatek cleared that hurdle Friday, dispatching 30th-seeded Petra Martic 6-2, 7-5 to reach the fourth round, matching her best run at the All England Club.

«It's just a totally different chapter,» Swiatek, 22, said.

The four-time Grand Slam champion can reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal when she faces 14th-seeded Belinda Bencic on Sunday. Bencic defeated Poland's Magda Linette 6-3, 6-1.

«Belinda is playing a great game, and it's never going to be easy in the fourth round of a Slam,» Swiatek said.

Swiatek has said she felt a lot of pressure last year from high expectations and the 35-match winning streak she carried into Wimbledon.

«I do feel more relaxed. I think also because I won Roland Garros and I feel like after that the pressure is a little bit off because I reached my goal kind of for the season,» she said. «I don't have to think about anything else other than playing.… I feel like I have more kind of, I don't know, free space in my head to develop my game and to work on my skills on grass.»

Unlike the men's side, where seven-time winner Novak Djokovic is a heavy favorite, the women's field is tougher to handicap.

The top three seeds — Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Elena Rybakina — are showing signs of becoming a big three.

Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion who was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2021, advanced to the third round with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Varvara Gracheva.

Madison Keys, who beat Viktorija Golubic 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round, said the «big three» title is deserved.

«They are