Venus knocks out Hewitt
Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen made quick work yesterday of finishing off Lleyton Hewitt and Alex Bolt at Wimbledon.
Venus and Klaasen were tantalisingly close to victory on Thursday when rain came down to suspend the match.
They were up 4-1 in the fourth set, having one the first two and won two games straight at the resumption to claim a place in the second round.
Earlier in the day New Zealand’s Artem Sitak and his partner Divij
French Open champion who won in straight sets yesterday, and No 7 Karolina Pliskova in the field, along with seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who is seeded 25th, and five-time champion Venus Williams, who is No 9.
‘‘I mean, anyone, on a good day, can beat anyone,’’ Van Uytvanck said. ‘‘That’s what I think. I still think the top players, their average level is higher than, let’s say, subtop players.’’ Sharan, of India, beat Radu Albot, of Moldova, and Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 7-6 6-7 6-3 6-2.
But wasn’t all good news for the Kiwis doubles players, Erin Routliffe and her Chilean partner Alexa Guarachi losing to the third seeds from the Czech Republic Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova 6-2 2-6 6-2.
For Marcus Daniell (NZ) and Wesley Koolhof, they couldn’t win the big points against the Indian duo of Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan and lost 7-6 6-4 7-6.
Among the men, too. Resumes and past performances do not matter. At all.
Marin Cilic, for example, entered his second-round match with all sorts of advantages in experience and success over his opponent, including a runner-up finish at the All England Club a year ago and a US Open title in 2014.
So when Cilic took a two-sets-tonone lead against a player who began the week with records of 0-2 at Wimbledon and 6-15 at all majors, it appeared the No 3 seed was on his way to a straightforward victory and a step closer to a potential semifinal rematch against defending champion Roger Federer.
Hold that thought. The outcome that seemed obvious vanished, and Cilic is gone, giving away a big edge in a 3-6 1-6 6-4 7-6 (3) 7-5 loss to 82ndranked Guido Pella, of Argentina, in a match completed yesterday after being suspended midway through the third set because of rain the evening before.
‘‘A big surprise,’’ Pella said. Cilic called it a ‘‘big disappointment’’.
‘‘Just didn’t feel so good. I was not as accurate as yesterday,’’ he said. ‘‘I was just missing some balls, giving him chance to keep playing.’’
On the other half of the draw, two past champions, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, both advanced in straight sets. Not all went smoothly for Djokovic, though: He was visited by a trainer after feeling pain in his left knee over the last couple of games because of what he termed ‘‘a bad move’’ during a point.
‘‘It seems like it’s nothing major. Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll see [at] the practice session how it feels,’’ the 12-time major champion said. ‘‘Hopefully it’s going to be fine.’’