Swiatek suffers first defeat on clay in front of his own audience in more than a year | NOW

Iga Swiatek faced her first clay loss in more than a year at the WTA tournament in Warsaw on Friday. The number one in the world was surprised in the quarterfinals by the French Caroline Garcia.

The 21-year-old Swiatek lost on the clay in the Polish capital in three sets against Garcia, the global number 45: 1-6, 6-1 and 4-6.

Swiatek’s previous defeat on clay dated June 9, 2021. Then she had to acknowledge her superiority in the Greek Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros.

This year, Swiatek won all eighteen previous matches on clay. She won Roland Garros and the WTA tournaments of Stuttgart and Rome. Until Friday, the Polish lost only two sets on clay this season.

At the beginning of this month, Swiatek’s impressive winning streak also came to an end at Wimbledon. Then she suffered her first loss since February in the third round against the French Alizé Cornet. The two-time Roland Garros winner won 37 matches in a row.

Garcia will face Italian Jasmine Paolini for a place in the final. The other semi-final will be between Kateryna Baindl from Ukraine and Ana Bogdan from Romania.