Chaos reigned during the first three days at Wimbledon, with half of the women’s Top 10 seeds ousted, before order was restored Thursday in London.
Seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia and eighth-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland both prevailed on the grass courts to forge ahead to the third round. They are the highest remaining women’s seeds behind top seed Arayna Sabalenka of Belarus and sixth-seeded Madison Keys.
It was the 34th win of the season for Andreeva, who came from three games back in the second set to defeat Lucia Bronzetti of Italy 6-1, 7-6 (4). She hit 21 winners compared to 11 for Bronzetti.
After the match, she credited coach Conchita Martinez, who won the Wimbledon singles title in 1994, for pushing her.
“I’m sure she’s not gonna let me go home,” Andreeva said in her on-court interview. “We’re gonna stick here for a couple hours to practice. … She pushes me to my limits. Thanks for that, I guess?”
Swiatek needed three sets to dispatch underdog Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. A five-time Grand Slam winner, Swiatek is seeking her first Wimbledon championship.
She reached a milestone Thursday, joining Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo of France as the only players in the 2000s to reach the third round at a major tournament at least 22 times, according to the WTA Tour.
Swiatek saved 13 of 15 break points and tallied 44 winners, with McNally recording just 13.
Five other seeded players avoided the upset bug.
No. 10 Emma Navarro bested Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 6-1, 6-2. No. 11 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-3, 6-1.
No. 16 Daria Kasatkina, Russia-born and representing Australia, ousted Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Czech Barbora Krejcikova, the No. 17 seed and defending champion, eliminated Caroline Dolehide 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
No. 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia triumphed against Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-0. Another Russian, No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova, beat Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-2, 6-1. No. 23 Clara Tauson of Denmark dispatched Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya 6-4, 7-6 (10), and Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro upset No. 28 Sofia Kenin 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Other winners Thursday were Americans Danielle Collins and Hailey Baptiste, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez, Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
–Field Level Media
