Defending champ Kerber upset; Serena survives
The reigning Wimbledon champion has been eradicated, as No. 5 seed Angelique Kerber misplaced 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 to unseeded American Lauren Davis on Thursday.
Kerber’s second-round exit is her worst Wimbledon consequence since 2013 and follows a first-round exit on the French Open in Might.
Serena Williams got here from behind to achieve the third spherical, dropping the primary set to Kaja Juvan earlier than profitable 2-6, 6-2, 6-Four.
Williams, who’s searching for an eighth Wimbledon title, has by no means misplaced within the second spherical on the All England Membership. She is 23-Zero in opposition to qualifiers at Grand Slam tournaments.
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Juvan was making her Wimbledon debut. She misplaced within the first spherical of the French Open in Might in her solely earlier Grand Slam look.
Davis, ranked No. 95 on the earth, subsequent faces No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro, who beat Pauline Parmentier 7-6 (2), 7-6 (Four). Davis had did not even get via qualifying and solely made the match as a fortunate loser after a few of the wild-card spots weren’t used.
“It is nearly surreal,” mentioned Davis, who began the yr ranked exterior the highest 250.
She mentioned the turning level got here when she was up a break at Three-2 within the second set and managed to carry after saving three break factors.
“I instructed myself, ‘You are sturdy, you are able to do it, you belong right here,'” Davis mentioned.
In the meantime, if the strain is attending to top-seeded Ash Barty, she is doing a fantastic job of hiding it.
The Australian participant got here into the match after profitable the French Open and a warm-up grass-court occasion in Birmingham. Now she has gained two in a row on the All England Membership to achieve the third spherical and stretch her profitable streak to 14 straight.
Barty beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-1, 6-Three, needing solely 55 minutes on No. 2 Courtroom to advance. It might have been even faster, however Barty did not serve out the match at 5-2 within the second set — the one time she was damaged.
“Fairly sharp proper from the beginning,” Barty mentioned. “I used to be in a position to implement what I wished to instantly and put the strain straight again on her.”
Barty is taking part in her first match as No. 1 however has by no means been previous the third spherical at Wimbledon. She’s going to subsequent face Harriet Dart, a British wild-card entry making her second look at Wimbledon.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova overcame a shaky begin to defeat Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 6-2 and attain the third spherical.
The No. 7-seeded Kvitova was damaged within the opening recreation and trailed 5-Three within the first set. Mladenovic served for that set at 5-Four and held three set factors however did not convert, double-faulting away her preliminary likelihood to shut it out. Mladenovic later double-faulted twice extra to get damaged and make it 5-all.
Kvitova, who gained titles on the All England Membership in 2011 and 2014, wasn’t even positive she might compete on the match this yr till proper earlier than it started. The left-hander missed the French Open due to an harm to that forearm.
No. 9 Sloane Stephens of the USA and No. 15 Wang Qiang of China additionally superior simply. Stephens beat Wang Yafan of China 6-Zero, 6-2, and Wang Qiang ousted Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia 6-1, 6-2.
The Related Press contributed to this report.