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There were no upsets among the few matches played between the rains on Wednesday at Wimbledon, where a former champ advanced in fine form, and a seeded Brit thrilled the home crowd by finally moving into the second round.
Top 10-seeded winners and title threats No. 3 Aggie Radwanska, No. 7 Belinda Bencic, and No. 10 Petra Kvitova were all winners.
Radwanska eased past the Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova 6-2, 6-1, Bencic beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova with surprising ease 6-2, 6-3, and Kvitova conquered Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-4.
The No. 3-seeded Pole says the rains prove that Grand Slam events need even more roofs.
“Yes, of course, especially in the beginning of the tournament, we have so many matches, the draw is big,” she said. “So, of course, why not? I know it’s a big thing to build a roof. It’s not easy. But, of course, more roofs, would be better. I think in Australia at the moment, it’s the best.”
The two-time champ Kvitova made quick work on the cold, wet day.
“I’m glad about how I played today, how my serve worked today,” said Kvitova, who baked a bagel in the first set of her match. “I think she wasn’t a really easy opponent on the grass to play in the first round. I think for fans it was little bit cold. It wasn’t really great for them. I made it quick. So that’s good.”
Brit and No. 16 seed Johanna Konta dodged a Brexit against Puerto Rican Monica Puig, avoiding a third set with a 6-1, 7-5 win.
Konta finally finished a match delayed multiple times by rain.
“I just wanted to go out there and perform the best that I could, to really deal with the situations that were at hand, try to do myself proud, really staying calm, staying present and fighting well,” said Konta, who this time last year was ranked outside the Top 125. “We had been waiting around for quite some time, I was happy with how I was able to get myself into the match. It’s not easy when it’s not from the beginning of the match.”
She will next meet Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, who beat Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-4.
Other seeded winners Wednesday were No. 21 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova outlasting Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, and No. 32 Andrea Petkovic coming from a set down to defeat Japan’s Nao Hibino 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Matches to look for on Thursday at the All England Club include (16) Konta vs. Bouchard, (9) Madison Keys vs. Kirsten Flipkens, and (14) Sam Stosur vs. Sabine Lisicki.
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