By Martyn Herman
LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) – Coco Gauff shrugged off her Wimbledon gremlins in the nick of time to avoid another early exit on Wednesday after men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner and women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka eased into the third round.
But fifth seed Mirra Andreeva’s dream of becoming the first female player since Serena Williams in 2015 to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back was shattered by former champion Barbora Krejcikova despite saving six match points.
For all her fight and fury, the 19-year-old Andreeva went down 4-6 7-5 6-4 as the understated Krejcikova showed the cool grasscourt craft that took her to the 2024 title.
Novak Djokovic completed the day’s action as he turned his Centre Court clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas — a player he has twice beaten in Grand Slam finals — into an exhibition.
The Serbian veteran, bidding for an eighth Wimbledon crown at the age of 39, was superb in a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win.
The day after seven-times Wimbledon champion Williams’ eagerly awaited comeback ended in defeat, Gauff, the player who took the baton from the American great, again looked vulnerable on the grass but dug in to beat Solana Sierra 6-3 3-6 7-6(10-7).
VICTORY WITH AN ACE
Gauff, the seventh seed, looked on the brink of a third first-round upset at Wimbledon in four years as Argentina’s Sierra served for the match at 5-4 in the third set.
But she channelled the warrior spirit of Williams to drag herself back and after trailing 7-4 in the tiebreak she conjured a moment of magic at 7-7. Out of position, she flicked away an improbable half-volley winner on the turn from behind the baseline to break Sierra’s spirit.
She sealed victory with an ace to set up a third-round clash with fellow American Claire Liu.
“Honestly, we’ve worked on half volleys and stuff. Because my coach is French, I feel like it’s something they like to do and stuff,” twice Grand Slam champion Gauff, who has never got past the fourth round at Wimbledon, said.
“Probably couldn’t recreate it if I wanted to.”
GOLFERS IN THE ROYAL BOX
A clutch of European Ryder Cup winners watched from the Royal Box on Centre Court as top seed Sinner took on Portugal’s Nuno Borges and after the hazards the Italian faced in his five-set win over Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic the 24-year-old kept it straight down the middle to reach round three.
World number 48 Borges had a set point in the second set, but Sinner was relatively untroubled as he raised his game at the pivotal moments for a 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 6-4 victory.
“Second match on grass, I was not looking for perfection,” Sinner said. “I tried to improve. Felt like at times I did. Now we’ll see how it goes.”
Sabalenka, bidding for her first Wimbledon title, was cruising against American McCartney Kessler but had to fight back from 5-2 down in the second set to win 6-1 7-6(9).
Kessler had two set points at 5-3 and another two in the tiebreak but four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka raised the intensity levels to set up a third-round slugfest against big-hitting Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
Sabalenka gave herself eight out of 10 for her first-round win over Teodora Kostovic and passed another test on Wednesday.
“She played incredible and played super aggressive and it was really tough to handle the second set and I am glad to have powered through,” Sabalenka said.
SEEDS MAKE PROGRESS
Four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka swapped her first round “Kill Bill” kimono for a more toned down outfit for her second-round clash against Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova but dazzled with her tennis in a 6-3 6-2 win.
Several other women’s title contenders progressed. Fourth seed Jessica Pegula beat Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6(6) 6-1 while American teenager Iva Jovic, seeded 16th, easily solved the puzzle that is 38-year-old Tatjana Maria, beating the wily German slice merchant 6-1 6-2.
There were also wins for Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic against China’s Wang Xinyu and 10th seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, who beat China’s Zhang Shuai to set up a third-round match against Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew who impressed in her win over American Alycia Parks.
In the men’s draw, Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Croatia’s Dino Prizmic 7-6(2) 6-3 7-5, eighth seed Daniil Medvedev enjoyed a four-set win over Spain’s Daniel Merida, French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli, seeded ninth, beat Mariano Navone and Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca was roared on by his yellow-clad fan club as he blazed past Jesper de Jong.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Alison Williams and Ed Osmond)
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