Another top women’s seed bites the dust
Zverev wins battle of Wimbledon’s rising stars, fights back to beat Fritz in five sets
>> LONDON: Madison Keys became the seventh woman seeded in the top 10 to crash out of Wimbledon as the American was stunned by Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina yesterday.
After defending champion Garbine Muguruza suffered a shock exit in the second round on Thursday, it was 10th seed Keys’ turn to endure an unexpected 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 third round defeat.
Keys’ departure comes hot on the heels of early exits for two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, 2004 All England Club champion Maria Sharapova, world No.2 Caroline Wozniacki and US Open title-holder Sloane Stephens.
Of the players seeded in the top 10 ahead of the tournament, only world No.1 Simona Halep, seventh seed Karolina Pliskova and five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, seeded ninth, are left in the draw after just five days.
Rodina won nine games in a row to move a set and two breaks ahead before Keys recovered from 4-0 down in the second set to set up a decider.
The 29-year-old Russian needed treatment after securing the decisive break in the final set, but she was able to block out the pain to seal her upset.
Earlier, Ekaterina Makarova of Russia became the first player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Makarova followed up her victory over second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki by beating former semi-finalist Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the round of 16 for the third time.
In the men’s event, Alexander Zverev avoided a shock exit as the world No.3 battled back to beat American youngster Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (0/7), 6-1, 6-2.
Zverev had just lost the third set when bad light forced play to be suspended late on Thursday evening.
But the 21-year-old German has plenty of practice at scrambling out of trouble after three times winning from two sets to one down at the recent French Open.
He staged another impressive escape act on Court One, winning the final two sets to move into the third round.
Zverev will face Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis for a place in the last 16.
After enjoying the best Grand Slam run of his career when he made the French Open quarter-finals last month, Zverev is hoping to reach the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time.
He was beaten in the fourth round last year.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Rufus the Hawk faces double the work to keep the pigeons down the pecking order when the new roof on Wimbledon’s Court One comes into action next year.
So his handler is bringing in a sidekick enforcer to help Rufus take care of business on the second big stadium while he struts his stuff round Centre Court.
Rufus has been making pigeons’ lives a misery for more than a decade at the All England Club in southwest London.
But a trusty young lieutenant, Pollux, is off the leash and being groomed to help ruffle a few feathers round the the 11,000-seater Court One.
“Rufus has not been used to having that enclosed area,” his handler Imogen Davies said of the new roof.
“There’s a lot more places for pigeons to roost. His hunting ground has got a lot wider. He used to know the area perfectly but now there’s all these new crevices for pigeons to hide in.
“It’s practically double the work. When the full roof goes on next year, we’ll probably be implementing double action: two hawks.
“He has colleagues. But Rufus is the main one for Wimbledon and we’re potentially bringing in a younger one to help take care of Court One next year.”
Pollux has been his apprentice since 2016 and has joined Rufus on his daily patrols.
A Harris hawk with a one-metre wingspan, Rufus is 11 and has been coming to Wimbledon since he was 16 weeks old.
During the championships, he flies daily but for the other 50 weeks of the year, he pops in once a week to keep a beady eye on things.