Wimbledon Day 4: Swiatek bounces back, Rybakina crushes McNally

Somewhere, Maya Joint will have gone to bed on Thursday night knowing she did something extraordinary this week — she beat Serena Williams on Centre Court at Wimbledon and made the world pay attention. But sport has a way of restoring order, and on Day 4, the 20-year-old Australian discovered it. Alexandra Eala, who must have dreamt of facing Serena Williams, sent Joint packing 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 — a result that carried a quiet poetry to it, even if nobody had quite written that chapter in advance.

London, England: Thursday in the women’s draw brought the kind of efficiency the draw’s top half demands and has so far largely delivered. Iga Swiatek, unconvincing in her nervy first-round win over Taylor Townsend, rediscovered her best form to dismantle Karolína Plíšková 6-1, 6-3 on Centre Court. Elena Rybakina was equally imperious, conceding just three games against Caty McNally. And while the headline names reasserted their authority, the day’s most compelling subplot played out on an outside court, where a 21-year-old from the Philippines quietly ended the tournament run of the woman who had become Wimbledon’s most famous first-round winner.

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Swiatek: The Defending Champion Reawakens

The question heading into Thursday was a simple one: which Swiatek would show up? The player who dropped the first set to Townsend in a debut that raised concerns about her grass-court readiness, or the defending champion who has won more Grand Slam titles in the last four years than anyone on the women’s tour? The answer arrived inside the first three games of her match against Plíšková — a demolition that never looked like going anywhere other than a straight-sets win.

Swiatek dominated from the baseline and repeatedly neutralised one of the biggest serves in the women’s game. Plíšková, a former world No. 1 and 2021 Wimbledon finalist, earned just two break points throughout the match, both of which Swiatek saved with authority. The nine double faults and three breaks conceded against Townsend belonged to a different tournament. This was the champion finding her range.

“I feel much better today,” Swiatek said on court. “The first match is always the toughest at any Grand Slam, particularly here on grass. I wasn’t at my best in the first round but I want to be playing better and better tennis as the tournament progresses.”

She will need to be. The third round brings Marta Kostyuk — who beat Anna Blinkova 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 on Day 4 — in what could be the week’s most combustible match, given their history on and off the court.

Rybakina: Serene, Severe, Scary

If Swiatek’s improvement was the day’s most encouraging story for the title contenders, Elena Rybakina’s continued brilliance was its most quietly alarming. The 2022 Wimbledon champion — who has always looked most dangerous on the surface that gifted her first and only major — dispatched American Caty McNally 6-1, 6-2 in just 53 minutes, losing a total of 10 points on serve across the entire match. There was no drama, no wobble, no moment where McNally threatened to make it competitive. It was the kind of performance that begins to mark a player as a genuine favourite rather than a contender, and Rybakina’s route through the draw to the quarter-finals looks as favourable as any in the bracket.

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Eala Ends Joint’s Extraordinary Week

The story of Maya Joint’s Wimbledon had been one of the great sporting tales of the fortnight’s opening days — the 20-year-old Australian, ranked 87th, who hadn’t slept the night before her match, walked onto Centre Court and beat a 44-year-old all-time legend who was making her Grand Slam comeback. On Thursday, the tournament moved on. Alexandra Eala, the 21-year-old Filipino 29th seed who had been in the same section of the draw as Serena Williams from the beginning, defeated Joint 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 in what became a thoroughly one-sided affair after the Australian took the opening set.

The result carries a thread of narrative that this tournament seems determined to weave. Eala was the player Serena could have faced in the third round — the next opponent in that section of the draw. Instead, it was Joint who Eala faced, and the task proved far more straightforward. The Filipino, who was born in 2005 and turned professional in 2020, became the first player from the Philippines to reach the third round of a Grand Slam in the Open Era. It is another landmark moment for Philippine tennis and one that will be celebrated across the country. She faces Iga Swiatek in the third round, a match that, on paper, offers little hope — but then, paper wasn’t very useful to Eala’s career up to this point either.

Anisimova Survives, Samsonova Stuns Shnaider

The day’s closest match belonged to sixth seed Amanda Anisimova, who committed a staggering 46 unforced errors but survived against fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3) — the 2025 Wimbledon finalist finding just enough in the deciding tiebreak to avoid what would have been an embarrassing exit. Anisimova’s serve, which produced 20 aces throughout, bailed her out at crucial moments when her groundstrokes failed to cooperate. It was a performance that will need significant improvement in the third round, but the 2025 Wimbledon finalist is through.

The day’s most significant upset belonged to Liudmila Samsonova, who defeated 15th seed Diana Shnaider 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 — the Russian teenager, one of the most hyped young players on the tour after her Roland Garros semi-final run, failing to convert her aggressive baseline game into enough wins on a surface that rewards touch and variation over raw power. Shnaider becomes the third top-16 women’s seed to exit the draw, following Elina Svitolina and Mirra Andreeva in the opening two days.

Keys, Paolini and the Rest Advance

Madison Keys — a 2017 US Open champion and former top-five player enjoying a revival at 31 — dispatched British wildcard Katie Swan 6-1, 6-4 with clinical authority, while Jasmine Paolini survived a tight first set against Viktorija Golubic before advancing 7-6(0), 6-4. Sorana Cîrstea beat Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 6-4, Emma Navarro recovered from a slow start to beat Oksana Selekhmeteva 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, and Elise Mertens came from a set down to beat Maria Timofeeva 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. Maria Sakkari’s progress continued as she ground past Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(7) in a match that required three sets and a near-perfect tiebreak to settle.

The draw’s shape heading into the third round is becoming clear. Sabalenka, Swiatek and Rybakina all remain on course for a semi-final collision. Krejčíková lurks as the tournament’s most dangerous dark horse. And in the bottom section, Eala’s run — whatever it amounts to — will be followed by a nation of more than 120 million people who have been waiting a very long time for a tennis story of their own.

Wimbledon 2026 — Women’s Singles, Day 4 Results

• Iga Swiatek bt Karolína Plíšková — 6-1, 6-3
• Elena Rybakina bt Caty McNally — 6-1, 6-2
• Amanda Anisimova bt Sofia Kenin — 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3)
• Linda Noskova bt Camila Osorio — 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
• Marta Kostyuk bt Anna Blinkova — 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3
• Jasmine Paolini bt Viktorija Golubic — 7-6(0), 6-4
• Liudmila Samsonova bt (15) Diana Shnaider — 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
• Sorana Cîrstea bt Kimberly Birrell — 6-3, 6-4
• Marie Bouzkova bt Tyra Caterina Grant — 7-5, 6-3
• Emma Navarro bt Oksana Selekhmeteva — 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
• Elise Mertens bt Maria Timofeeva — 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Madison Keys bt Katie Swan — 6-1, 6-4
• (29) Alexandra Eala bt Maya Joint — 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
• Maria Sakkari bt Kamilla Rakhimova — 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(7)
• Ashlyn Krueger bt Mariam Bolkvadze — 6-1, 6-0

Seeded exit: (15) Diana Shnaider — third top-16 women’s seed eliminated

Storyline: Alexandra Eala, who was in Serena Williams’ projected third-round path, ends Maya Joint’s run — the woman who beat Serena in Round 1

Next: Swiatek vs Eala | Sabalenka vs Ostapenko | Krejčíková vs Bartunkova (Day 5)