LONDON : Coco Gauff fought back from the brink of another early Wimbledon exit on Wednesday, while defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner and women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka advanced comfortably to the third round, but French Open champion Mirra Andreeva suffered a surprise defeat.
Fifth seed Andreeva’s hopes of becoming the first woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to complete the French Open-Wimbledon double ended with a 4-6 7-5 6-4 loss to former champion Barbora Krejcikova despite saving six match points.
The Czech relied on her experience and grasscourt pedigree to overcome the 19-year-old after a tense contest.
Novak Djokovic rounded off the day’s play with an impressive 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas as the Serbian continued his pursuit of a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title.
A day after Serena Williams’ comeback ended in defeat, seventh seed Gauff narrowly avoided another disappointing exit at the All England Club.
The American defeated Argentina’s Solana Sierra 6-3 3-6 7-6(10-7), surviving after Sierra served for the match at 5-4 in the deciding set.
Trailing 7-4 in the final-set tiebreak, Gauff produced a remarkable recovery, highlighted by an improvised half-volley winner from behind the baseline at 7-7 before sealing victory with an ace.
She will next face 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,” Gauff said.
“Probably couldn’t recreate it if I wanted to.”
Top seed Sinner enjoyed a far less stressful afternoon than in his five-set opening-round victory over Miomir Kecmanovic.
The Italian defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 6-4, saving a set point in the second set before raising his level at the key moments.
“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 also advanced in straight sets but was forced to withstand a spirited challenge from American McCartney Kessler.
The Belarusian, chasing her first Wimbledon title, won 6-1 7-6(9) after recovering from 5-2 down in the second set.
Kessler held two set points at 5-3 and another two in the tiebreak, but Sabalenka responded with aggressive shot-making to close out the match.
She will meet Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko in the third round.
Djokovic produced one of the performances of the day against Tsitsipas, turning a potentially difficult contest into a one-sided display.
The 39-year-old Serb, chasing an eighth Wimbledon crown and another Grand Slam title, dominated throughout to reach the third round with little trouble.
