WIMBLEDON, England — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek was unbeaten since February and sure seemed unbeatable, compiling 37 consecutive match wins and six consecutive tournament titles.

She’s never quite been as comfortable on grass courts as other surfaces, though, and a mistake-filled Saturday sent Swiatek out of Wimbledon in the third round with a 6-4, 6-2 loss to 37th-ranked Alize Cornet of France.

“I know I didn’t play good tennis. I was pretty confused about my tactics,” said Swiatek, a two-time French Open champion who has never advanced past the fourth round at the All England Club. “For sure, it wasn’t a good performance for me.”

It was not just the match’s winner that was unexpected. It was also just how one-sided this 1-hour, 33-minute encounter was.

“This kind of match is what I’m living for, it’s what I’m practicing for every day,” Cornet said. “It really drives me. I knew I could do it. Somehow, I had this belief.”

No woman had won as many matches in a row as Swiatek since Martina Hingis also put together a run of 37 in 1997.

But right away, it seemed, this would not be Swiatek’s day.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said.

On a chilly, windy afternoon at No. 1 Court, she quickly fell behind 3-0 and of Cornet’s first 14 points, nine came via unforced errors off the racket of the 21-year-old player from Poland. Only one came via a winner produced by Cornet herself.

Normally so crisp with her shots, calm with her demeanor, Swiatek was not exactly at ease in either sense. After one missed forehand return, she swatted the toes of her right shoe with her racket.

By the end, Swiatek had made 33 unforced errors — a whopping 26 more than Cornet. And Swiatek’s strong forehand produced nine winners, only two more than Cornet amassed. This is not the first surprising result Cornet has come up with at the All England Club. The only other time she reached the fourth round at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament came in 2014, when she eliminated major singles champion Serena Williams.

“I have no words right now. It reminds me of the time I beat Serena on the same court, eight years ago exactly,” Cornet said. “This court is a lucky charm for me.”

When the match ended — appropriately enough, with Swiatek dumping a forehand into the net — Cornet raised her arms and smiled as wide a smile as can be.

Cornet is a 32-year-old who reached her first quarterfinal in 63 appearances at majors by getting that far at the Australian Open in January. Now she’s a win away from getting that far again, facing unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia next.

“I’m like good wine,” Cornet said. “Good wine always ages well.”

Tomljanovic, a quarterfinalist a year ago at the All England Club, eliminated 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. In a contest between two young Americans — and a rematch of the 2017 U.S. Open junior final — No. 20 seed Amanda Anisimova came back to top No. 11 Coco Gauff 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 at Centre Court.

Gauff, who is 18 and lost to Swiatek in the final at Roland Garros last month, led 3-0 at the start, before the 20-year-old Anisimova’s forceful baseline game eventually began to hold sway. Anisimova took that opening set to a tiebreaker, which she then led 4-1, but Gauff grabbed the next half-dozen points.

That could have been trouble for Anisimova. She didn’t let it derail her. Instead, she kept taking control of groundstroke exchanges while also doing a fantastic job of handling Gauff’s serve, which reached 123 mph Saturday. When Anisimova closed out the victory, she dropped to her back on the court, covering her face with both hands, then rose to blow kisses to the crowd and wiped away tears.

At a glance

LOOKAHEAD TO SUNDAY: The traditional day of rest on the middle Sunday at Wimbledon is a thing of the past, and a British player will be first on Centre Court to mark the occasion. Heather Watson, who will be playing in the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time, will face Jule Niemeier. Fifth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz will follow against Jannik Sinner and three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic will be last in the main stadium against Tim van Rijthoven.

SATURDAY’S KEY RESULTS

Women’s third round: Alize Cornet beat No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-2; No. 4 Paula Badosa beat No. 25 Petra Kvitova 7-5, 7-6 (4); Petra Martic beat No. 8 Jessica Pegula 6-2, 7-6 (5); No. 20 Amanda Anisimova beat No. 11 Coco Gauff 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1; Ajla Tomljanovic beat No. 13 Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; No. 16 Simona Halep beat Magdalena Frech 6-4, 6-1; No. 17 Elena Rybakina beat Zheng Qinwen 7-6 (4), 7-5; Harmony Tan beat Katie Boulter 6-1, 6-1.

Men’s third round: No. 2 Rafael Nadal beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-1, 6-2, 6-4; Nick Kyrgios beat No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7); No. 11 Taylor Fritz beat Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (3); No. 19 Alex de Minaur beat Liam Broady 6-3, 6-4, 7-5; No. 21 Botic Van de Zandschulp beat Richard Gasquet 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1; Cristian Garin beat No. 29 Jenson Brooksby 6-2, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; Brandon Nakashima beat Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-4, 6-1; Jason Kubler beat Jack Sock 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3.