Wawrinka joins casualty list
In a Wimbledon tournament filled with early upsets, Reilly Opelka pulled off another one in the second round.
The 2.10m American with the big serve defeated three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 8-6.
‘‘At first I had a lot of success serving and volleying, so I kept with that,’’ Opelka said. ‘‘And then as he kind of picked up on what I was doing and started reading my serve a little bit, it was more difficult for me to win points at the net. So I had to play, played a lot of tennis on the baseline today.’’
Opelka is making his debut at Wimbledon, and playing in only his fourth grand slam tournament. He had never before reached the third round at any major. Wawrinka has won each of the other three major titles but has never been past the quarterfinals at the All England Club.
Earlier this week, No 6 Alexander Zverev, No 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No 5 Dominic Thiem were all eliminated.
The 21-year-old Opelka, who is unseeded, finished the match against Wawrinka with 23 aces, with several serves topping 225kmh. One, at 228kmh, tied with Zverev for the fastest of the tournament so far.
Opelka will next face 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic in the third round. The 15thseeded Canadian beat Robin Haase 7-6 (1) 7-5 7-6 (4).
Two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka, third-seeded Karolina Pliskova and eighthseeded Elina Svitolina all advanced in the women’s draw.
Azarenka, who won the Australian Open title in 2012 and 2013, beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 6-0 while Pliskova beat Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig 6-0 6-4.
Svitolina, on the other hand, was two points from losing to Margarita Gasparyan in the second set but eventually won when her opponent retired with an injury at 5-7 6-5.
Former No 1 Simona Halep also advanced, beating Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3 4-6 6-2.
Cori Gauff, the 15-year-old American sensation who stunned Venus Williams in her Wimbledon debut, delivered another dominant performance, defeating former semifinalist Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-3.
Gauff, the youngest player to qualify for the main Wimbledon draw since the Open era began in 1968, is also the youngest woman to reach Wimbledon’s third round since 1991. ‘‘I’m still shocked I’m even here,’’ she said.