Day 4 of Wimbledon showed us an Iga Swiatek who dropped the first set against Caty McNally, reset, and played arguably the best tennis of the year on her least favorite surface.
McNally is coming back from March elbow surgery and intensive rehab, and her game and fitness looked great in the first set. She was finishing points at the net and frustrating Swiatek.
Swiatek played better in the second set, with powerful serving and ground strokes that trapped McNally at the baseline. She ran away with the third set giving tennis fans the Wimbledon third round popcorn match we have been waiting for.
Iga Swiatek wins R2 matches.
The No.8 seed recovers from going a set down to defeat Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 and continue her journey at SW19 👊#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/bIJct7njvn
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2025
Iga Swiatek hugged Caty McNally at the net. The two know each other well and teamed up to win the 2018 French Open junior doubles title.
Iga Swiatek vs. Danielle Collins
Danielle Collins has been quietly minding her business and breezing through her first two rounds. She has lost a total of 10 games in four sets.
Collins and Swiatek are not great friends. Danielle Collins is frequently infuriated with Swiatek’s pace of play evidenced by her outburst at last year’s Olympics. The two have never played on grass.
Danielle Collins to Iga Swiatek during their match at the Olympics:
“There’s like no one behind me. Play at the servers pace.”
Definitely a lot of tension in this match.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 31, 2024
Swiatek leads the head-to-head 7-2, but Collins won their most recent meeting at this year’s Italian Open in straight sets.
Iga Swiatek has 22 career titles, 5 of them Grand Slam wins, but she has never won a grass court title. She achieved her career best result at the 2023 Wimbledon with a quarterfinal appearance.
No one expects Swiatek to win Wimbledon, and perhaps that is liberating for her. She was expected to win everything on clay which she had pretty much done up until the 2024 Paris Olympics when she won the bronze medal. Collins will be a tough opponent for Swiatek, testing her recently gained grass court confidence. Swiatek was a finalist at last week’s Bad Homburg Open.
The third round match between Swiatek and Collins is scheduled for Saturday, July 5 and will be aired on ESPN and/or ESPN+.
