Barty Battles Ahead At Wimbledon, Gauff Impresses; Svitolina, Azarenka Out

Top seed Ash Barty’s road to a first Wimbledon title got easier today. Barty returned to the third round with a scratchy win over Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-3.

The Australian was burdened by some serving issues but the most important, she survived the upset bug.

“A few things didn’t feel quite right today. That’s half the battle in sport, is being able to find a way when it’s not feeling all that great,” Barty said.

“I felt like when my back was against the wall today, I was able to bring the good stuff. It just wasn’t quite there all the time. We have another opportunity to now go out on the practice court, work on it, try to bring some good stuff in the third round.

“Not my best serving day. But that happens as well. I felt like I was just out of rhythm a little bit. A few technical things weren’t quite feeling spot on. But you have those days where some days you feel like you’re eight-foot-tall and can’t miss the box. Other days you feel like you’re three-foot-nothing, just getting over the net is a bit of a battle.

The upsets, though, continued to hit the women’s top half. 2019 semifinalist Elina Svitolina fell apart to Magda Linette 6-3, 6-4. At 3, Svitolina is the highest seed out thus far in the women’s draw.

“I try to stay the same level, I try not to get over-excited, because I have another match in two days,” Linette told the Wimbledon Channel. “I really try to keep it all at the same level, to mentally stay calm and as consistent as I can.”

No. 12 seed Victoria Azarenka also was ousted. The Belarussian was ahead in all three sets but went out 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 to fellow 30-something Sorana Cirstea. It was the Romanian’s first career win in four tries Azarenka.

“I think it was a really great match,” Cirstea said. “I think we were mostly playing on winners, not on unforced errors, and I think was a great quality match. It got the people really involved.”

Coco Gauff was back on Centre Court and cruised past former Wimbledon semifinalist Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3.

“I honestly was more nervous today coming into today’s match. I think the biggest thing is I don’t really remember much from my Centre Court experience in 2019. I don’t know, I felt like it was all a blur,” she said after the match.

“But going in today I feel like a completely different player and person,” she added. “It wasn’t my best tennis today, but I think mentally I gave a good performance considering how nervous I was.”

Former champion Angelique Kerber held on to beat a tough Sara Sorribes Tormo in very tough 3-set tussle Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

French champion Barbora Krejcikova improved her win streak to 14 with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Andrea Petkovic.

So far I feel extremely happy,” Krejcikova said. “It’s always hard to switch from clay to grass. You know, I had such a huge run in Paris, and then after I didn’t really have much time to actually prepare, so came here with no expectations. So far I’m really happy that I’m in the third round and I’m going to play another match. It’s amazing.”

Tomorrow, Garbine Muguruza returns along with Karolina Pliskova, Elise Mertens and Sloane Stephens.

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