Halep through as big names fall
LONDON: Defending Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza suffered a shock defeat in the second round yesterday, losing 57, 62, 61 to unseeded Belgian Alison van Uytvanck.
Third seed Muguruza came from a break down to win the first set but her feeble challenge fizzled out in the next two as van Uytvanck blew the Spaniard away with her big serving.
The defeat means that five of the top six women’s seeds have now exited the tournament in four days, with top seed Simona Halep the only player in that list to make the third round.
Halep earlier overcame a scare in the first set to beat China’s Zheng Saisai 75, 60. The Romanian world No 1 takes on Hsieh Suwei from Taiwan next.
‘‘I had [the] pressure [a] little bit of [possibly] losing that [first] set but I didn’t panic. I think this was the best thing that I did. I was just calm,’’ Halep said.
There were big upsets in the men’s field too, with last year’s runnerup, Marin Cilic, losing 36, 16, 64, 76(3), 75 to Argentine Guido Pella, ranked 82. Stan Wawrinka lost 76(7), 63, 76(6) against Italian journeyman Thomas Fabbiano.
Twice champion Nadal advanced with a 64, 63, 64 win over Mikhail Kukushkin but the Spaniard’s progress was far from easy as he endured a 21⁄2 hour test against the tricky Kazakh.
‘‘He played very well,’’ Nadal said of his opponent.
‘‘I’m happy to be through. I think I played much better today.’’
‘‘I went on court with the determination to play at the right intensity. Happy for the victory and happy with [the] way I played. I feel ready to compete.’’
Threetime Wimbledon title holder Novak Djokovic had no problems as he cruised through 61, 62, 63 against Horacio Zeballos for his 60th match victory at the All England Club.
Briton Kyle Edmund beat American Bradley Klahn 64, 76(0), 62 to move into the third round for the first time in his career and set up a meeting with Djokovic.
‘‘I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never been to the third round at Wimbledon,’’ Edmund said. ‘‘Novak’s one of the best players in the world. He’ll go down as one of the best players of all time.’’
Fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro thumped Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 64, 61, 62 in 95 minutes to move into the third round. Victory for the towering Argentine meant that he matched compatriot David Nalbandian’s tally of 19 Wimbledon match victories and 86 grandslam match wins.
Briton Johanna Konta was beaten in straights by world No 33 Dominika Cibulkova, losing 63, 64 in 78 minutes.
‘‘It feels great. It was a tough draw. I can only be happy with my performance. It was a great match,’’ Slovakian Cibulkova said.
‘‘It wasn’t so difficult for me, I have experienced it many times — the crowd were really nice to me. I was really happy to perform such good tennis on centre court.’’
Konta’s defeat means she has not reached the third round at a major since last year’s Wimbledon. Australia’s Nick Kyrgios also advanced in straight sets, beating Dutchman Robin Haase 63, 64, 75 in 96 minutes.
Former world No 1 Angelique Kerber beat American Claire Liu 36, 62, 64 and will now meet 18th seed Naomi Osaka, who downed local hope Katie Boulter 63, 64, in the third round.
John Isner saved two match points in the fifth set to overcome Belgian Ruben Bemelmans 61, 64, 67(6), 67(3), 75 in 3hr 46min to reach the third round. The bigserving American also fired 64 aces, the thirdmost at Wimbledon, as he extended his winning streak against qualifiers at grand slams to 10 matches.
Swiss Stan Wawrinka suffered a shock 76(7), 63, 76(6) loss to world No 133 Thomas Fabbiano in a match that resumed yesterday after rain halted play on Thursday. Italian Fabbiano saved three set points against threetimes grandslam winner Wawrinka in the second set to advance.
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson wrapped up his raininterrupted match against Andreas Seppi on court two, winning 63, 67(5), 63, 64.
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty beat Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard 64, 75 in a match between former Wimbledon girls champions.
Barty won the junior title in 2011, while Bouchard claimed the title the following year.
Victory meant that Barty has a tourleading 12 grasscourt victories this year.
Daria Gavrilova, seeded 26th, eased past Australian compatriot Samantha Stosur 64, 61 in 81 minutes and improved her career headtohead record against 34yearold to 33 after their fourth meeting of the season.