American tennis star Coco Gauff came dangerously close to another early Wimbledon departure on Wednesday before pulling off a dramatic comeback victory, while men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner and women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka both advanced with relative comfort to the tournament’s third round.
Just one day after seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams saw her comeback attempt end in defeat, Gauff — widely seen as the player who inherited Williams’ mantle — once again looked shaky on the grass courts before finding her footing to defeat Argentina’s Solana Sierra 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-7).
The seventh-seeded Gauff was on the edge of what would have been her third first-round loss at Wimbledon in four years when Sierra served for the match while leading 5-4 in the third set. But Gauff dug deep, channeling a fighting spirit reminiscent of Williams, and produced a stunning shot at 7-7 in the tiebreak before closing out the match with an ace. She will next face fellow American Claire Liu in round three.
Over on Centre Court, top seed Sinner dispatched Portugal’s Nuno Borges in straight sets, 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-4, watched by a group of European Ryder Cup winners seated in the Royal Box. The 24-year-old Italian had a much smoother outing compared to his grueling five-set opener against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic. Borges, ranked 48th in the world, held a set point in the second set, but Sinner elevated his game at the critical moments to move through without major drama.
Sabalenka, still chasing her first Wimbledon title, cruised in the first set against American McCartney Kessler but found herself in trouble after falling behind 5-2 in the second. Kessler had two set points at 5-3 and another two during the tiebreak, but the four-time Grand Slam champion turned up the heat to win 6-1, 7-6(9). Sabalenka will next face hard-hitting Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in round three.
“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 after the match.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka also advanced, swapping her first-round “Kill Bill” kimono for a more understated outfit before putting on a tennis clinic in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova.
Among other women’s seeds, 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic defeated China’s Zhang Shuai and will face Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew in round three. American teenager Iva Jovic, seeded 16th, made easy work of 38-year-old German veteran Tatjana Maria, winning 6-1, 6-2.
In the men’s draw, eighth seed Daniil Medvedev won in four sets against Spain’s Daniel Merida, while ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli — the French Open runner-up — defeated Mariano Navone. Brazil’s Joao Fonseca rolled past Dutchman Jesper de Jong.
American qualifier Michael Zheng followed up his upset win over British number one Cameron Norrie with a straight-sets victory over Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia. Compatriot Tommy Paul also claimed his second consecutive straight-sets win, this time defeating Kwon Soon-woo to join Zheng in the third round.
