Eight-time champion Roger Federer, world No.1 Ash Barty and second seed Daniil Medvedev notched straight-sets victories as the third-round line-up was completed at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Federer and Medvedev were joined in the last 32 by fellow top-10 seeds Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini, while women’s major champions Angelique Kerber, Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova were also second-round winners.
However, third seed Elina Svitolina, two-time Australian Open champ Victoria Azarenka and former world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov departed the tournament.
In a magnificent Day 4 for Australia, Barty was one of five Aussies to progress to the third round at the All England Club, along with Nick Kyrgios, Jordan Thompson, James Duckworth and Ajla Tomljanovic.
Federer, Medvedev, Zverev, Berrettini through
Federer enjoyed a more comfortable outing on Thursday after a scare in his opening-round match against Adrian Mannarino, who led two sets to one before sustaining an injury.
The sixth-seeded Swiss subdued Richard Gasquet 7-6(1) 6-1 6-4 for his 19th win in 21 encounters with the Frenchman.
Federer’s win sets up a clash with plenty of local interest; he will take on in-form Brit Cameron Norrie after the No.29 seed recovered from 0-3 down in the first set to beat wildcard Alex Bolt 6-3 6-1 6-2.
Medvedev brushed aside 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz for the loss of just seven games and will next take on 2017 Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic in another highly-anticipated third-round match.
Queen’s champion Berrettini extended his winning streak to seven matches with a 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) triumph over Botic Van de Zandschulp, while Kyrgios, playing his first tournament in more than four months, beat Gianluca Mager in straight sets and will next take on No.16 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Zverev’s 7-5 6-2 6-3 win over Tennys Sandgren sends the German through to the third round where he will meet 31st seed Taylor Fritz, a five-set winner over fellow American Steve Johnson.
Tweet of the day
Fritz departed the court at Roland Garros in a wheelchair and later had surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Just three weeks after that procedure, he is through to the third round at Wimbledon.
Built different
— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) July 1, 2021
Barty rounding into form
Top seed Barty showed improvement in her return from an acute hip injury, beating Anna Blinkova 6-4 6-3 in businesslike fashion.
Barty, who skipped grass-court tune-up events as she rehabbed the injury, and who needed three sets to get past Carla Suarez Navarro in round one, will look to equal her best performance at Wimbledon when she takes on Katerina Siniakova for a place in the last 16.
Following Barty onto Centre Court was 17-year-old Coco Gauff, who beat Elena Vesnina by exactly the same scoreline to return to the third round.
Meanwhile, in-form Eastbourne champion Ostapenko smacked 48 winners to beat No.31 seed Daria Kasatkina in a thrilling 6-1 3-6 8-6 victory.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Krejcikova won her 14th straight match by beating Andrea Petkovic 7-5 6-4, while Kerber outlasted Sara Sorribes Tormo in a brilliant three-hour, 18-minute duel.
Also advancing to round three were Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and quarterfinalist Paula Badosa, and 19th seed Karolina Muchova, who stopped Camila Giorgi in three sets.
Awesome Aussies
Australians have traditionally fared well at the All England Club, but 2021 has been particularly impressive.
Thompson's performances have been perhaps the most eye-catching, with the world No.78 backing up his first-round upset of 12th seed Casper Ruud with a 7-5 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory over former world No.4 Kei Nishikori.
Through to the third round for the first time having never previously won a main-draw match at Wimbledon, he will next face 87th-ranked Ilya Ivashka.
Duckworth, meanwhile, advanced to the third round for the first time at any Grand Slam tournament with a four-set win over Sam Querrey, a former Wimbledon semifinalist who last week reached the ATP grass-court final in Mallorca.
Those breakthroughs were matched by Tomljanovic, who cleared the second-round stage of a major tournament for the first time since 2014 with a gritty 6-4 0-6 6-3 win over Alize Cornet, who in the previous round had thrashed Bianca Andreescu.
This is Tomljanovic's best ever showing at Wimbledon; her best Grand Slam result was a run to the last 16 at Roland Garros seven years ago.
Barty, meanwhile, has returned to the third round at SW19 for the third straight time, while Kyrgios is appearing at this stage of the tournament for the fifth time in his past seven visits.
Upset of the day
Svitolina was a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2019 and looked impressive in her first-round win over the in-form Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck.
But against Magda Linette, she played passively and let the Polish player bully her around the court.
Linette struck 28 winners to Svitolina’s eight in the 6-3 6-4 win, which she completed in just 65 minutes.
Azarenka, meanwhile, led her head-to-head series against Sorana Cirstea 3-0, with two of those victories coming at Wimbledon.
But those wins were achieved more than 10 years ago, and in their 2021 rematch, the Romanian fought back from 3-1 down in the third set to beat the No.12 seed 7-6(5) 3-6 6-4.
Stat of the day
Cirstea’s next opponent is British 18-year-old Emma Raducanu, whose upset victory over 2019 Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova sent statisticians into overdrive.
She becomes the youngest British woman to reach third round at Wimbledon since Elena Baltacha in 2002, and notched her first top-100 win over the 42nd-ranked Czech.
I believe @EmmaRaducanu is the first British woman to make R3 @Wimbledon on her singles main draw debut for 42 years, since Debbie Jevans in 1979 (who made it to R4 that year, going out to Virginia Wade)
— Steven (@GBtennis) July 1, 2021
Ranked No.338, this is the first time Raducanu is playing in the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament.
And she is achieving all of this after having hardly competed; she has played just four matches in 2021 – all on grass leading into Wimbledon – after a 15-month absence from professional tennis.
Quotes of the day
“I feel like I'm an old soul on tour. It's good to see another guy like that kind of take my place when I do eventually go. All the tennis world (will say) thank god Kyrgios is gone, (but) you're going to have to deal with Bublik now.”
- Nick Kyrgios on Alexander Bublik, who upset 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 7-6(6) 7-6(4).
“I honestly was more nervous today coming into today's match. I think the biggest thing is I don't really remember much from my Centre Court experience in 2019. I felt like it was all a blur. But going in today I feel like a completely different player and person.”
- Coco Gauff, who burst to prominence with her fourth-round run at Wimbledon, aged 15.
“Today was perfect. Actually, again, I'm on a streak. I didn't fall down yet once this grass-court season. I want to continue it.”
- Daniil Medvedev
“It's just going to be a pleasure to play against him again. I played him once before. He absolutely whacked me pretty easily. I'm going to just look at it like any other match.”
- Cameron Norrie, on facing Roger Federer in round three.
“When you play Grand Slam, is all the time a lot, different kind of pressure. Sometimes, it's tough to handle, but is the part of the job. You have to try to be strong, try to be good to yourself and try to overcome the fears, the difficulties. Today probably I was not fresh mentally to do that. I have been on the tour for years now and been different kind of situations. But right now I wouldn't say it's very smooth times in my career right now.”
- Elina Svitolina
Day 5: Ones to watch
Centre Court ticketholders are in for a treat on Friday, thanks to three excellent third-round matches scheduled for Wimbledon’s storied stadium.
The Day 5 schedule opens with a clash between former champion Garbine Muguruza and confident No.21 seed Ons Jabeur, the recent Birmingham champion, before a meeting between British No.1 Dan Evans and impressive rising American star Sebastian Korda.
Concluding the session is a blockbuster showdown pitting three-time major champion Andy Murray – who has captivated the tournament with his heartwarming run after years of physical struggles – against flashy Canadian shotmaker Denis Shapovalov.
ORDER OF PLAY: Wimbledon Day 5
No.10 seed Shapovalov was a Wimbledon junior champion in 2016, the same year Murray won his most recent Grand Slam title at the All England Club.
Elsewhere, world No.1 Novak Djokovic takes on Denis Kudla on Court No.1, while second seed Aryna Sabalenka looks to reach the second week at a major for just the third time when she plays teenage Colombian qualifier Maria Camila Osorio Serrano.