SERENA CRASHES
Little known Harmony upsets legend’s rhythm
London, June 29: Serena Williams tasted bitter defeat on her return to singles tennis at Wimbledon on Tuesday as Rafael Nadal overcame a huge scare to progress to the second round.
Seven-time champion Serena went down to unseeded Harmony Tan of France 5-7, 6-1, 6-7 (7/10) in her first singles encounter since an injury forced her out of her first-round match at Wimbledon last year.
Serena, 40, won the last of her Wimbledon singles titles six years ago but reached the final in 2018 and 2019.
“For my first Wimbledon it’s wow — just wow,” said Harmony.
“I’m so emotional now. She’s a superstar. When I was young, I was watching her so many times on the TV. When I saw the draw, I was really scared. She’s such a legend. I thought if I can win one game, two games, that would be really good for me,” the world number 115 added.
Serena was far below her imperious best on Tuesday, struggling from the start with her form and fitness.
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, cheered by the crowd as she made her entrance, lost the first set but broke early in the second set and went on to level the match.
But she faltered while serving for the match and faded badly in the third-set tie-break after taking a 4-0 lead. She finished with 61 winners but 54 unforced errors the 3-hour, 11minute evening match.
Serena brushed off any talk of retirement by insisting she is “motivated” to play at the US Open later this year despite a shattering Wimbledon defeat. “The US Open was the place where I won my first Slam, it’s super-special. There’s definitely a lot of motivation to get better and play at home,” the American said.
The 23-time major winner, who debuted at the All England Club in 1998, refused to speculate on whether or not she will be back at Wimbledon in 2023. “I am just playing for right now. I see how I feel and go from there. Who knows where I will pop up,” she said.
Earlier, an off-key Nadal, already halfway to a calendar Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open and French Open, dug deep to beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon third round for the 16th time on Wednesday with a straight sets win over Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Djokovic, who is bidding to equal Pete Sampras as a seven-time champion at the All England Club, eased past his 79th-ranked opponent 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
The top seed will face either fellow Serb Miomir
Kecmanovic or Alejandro Tabilo of Chile for a place in the last 16.
Casper Ruud, the runnerup to Rafael Nadal at this year’s French Open, became the seventh of the top 11-ranked male players to be out of the grass-court Grand Slam for either losing early, injury, illness or being banned. Ruud, who was seeded third but ranked sixth, lost to Ugo Humbert of France 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday in the second round.
The third-ranked Djokovic, No.4 Nadal, No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No.7 Carlos Alcaraz are the only players in the top 11
remaining draw. Top-ranked Daniil Medvedev and No.8 Andrey Rublev are out because of a ban on Russians over the war in Ukraine, No.2 Alexander Zverev is injured and No.10 Hubert Hurkacz lost, and No.11 Matteo Berrettini withdrew with Covid-19.
In the women’s tournament, second-seeded Anett Kontaveit and 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza were also eliminated. Kontaveit lost to Juke Niemeier of Germany 6-4, 6-0, while the ninth-seeded Muguruza was beaten by Greet Minnen 6-4, 6-0. — Agencies
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