Wawrinka bites dust; Kerber rallies to win
WIMBLEDON Swiss player loses to Italian qualifier in a rain affected tie; Bouchard clean bowled by former cricket player
LONDON: Stan Wawrinka couldn’t muster another comeback at Wimbledon, losing to Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano 7-6 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the second round on Thursday.
The match was suspended because of rain on Wednesday with Wawrinka leading 6-5 in the third set, but Fabbiano wrapped up the victory quickly to equal his best Grand Slam result by reaching the third round.
Wawrinka, whose ranking has fallen to 224th following knee surgery, had come from a set down to upset sixth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the first round for just his second Grand Slam victory since last year’s Wimbledon.
KERBER WINS
Former Wimbledon finalist Angelique Kerber had to come from a set down to oust American qualifier Claire Liu in the second round.
The 11th-seeded Kerber broke decisively for a 4-3 lead in the third set before serving out a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory against the 18-year-old Liu, the youngest player in the tournament.
Kerber lost the 2016 final to Serena Williams.
Liu was at her first Wimbledon and faced a top-10 ranked player for the first time. At No. 237, Liu was the lowest-ranked woman to make the second round.
BOUCHARD LOSES
Eugenie Bouchard’s hopes of emulating her 2014 run to the final were hit for a six by former professional cricket player Ashleigh Barty in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday.
The Canadian, whose ranking has fallen to 188th from a career-high five in 2014, had to contest three qualifying matches just to make into the main draw at the All England Club.
The effort of winning four matches over the past week to get into round two appeared to have taken its toll on Bouchard as she could do little to stop 17th seed Barty storming back from 5-2 down in the second set to seal a 6-4 7-5 victory.
Bouchard even had a set point at 5-3 up on Barty’s serve but the Australian, who took a two-year break from tennis in 2014 for a stint in professional cricket, wriggled out of that corner and won five games in a row to finish off her 24-year-old opponent.
The win carried Barty into the third round here for the first time. She will next face either 14th seed Daria Kasatkina or Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
Eighth-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat Andreas Seppi to set up a thirdround meeting with Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
The hard-serving Anderson hit 34 aces against the Italian to win 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.
The 25th-seeded Kohlschreiber ousted Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) in a match that featured no breaks of serve.