All the biggest stories from Day 3 at Wimbledon:
Andy Murray makes short work of Brown
Up against Dustin Brown of Germany – who has removed Rafael Nadal from Wimbledon in the past, an injury-stricken Andy Murray continued to dominate, winning yet another match in straight sets. After demolishing Sasha Bublik in Round 1, Murray made short work of the tall German ace, winning the match 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 as his tall rival ended up not posing much of a challenge.
The top seed and defending champion next faces a possibly troublesome opponent in Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
Blockbuster battle between Vekic and Konta
British No. 1 and Wimbledon #6 seed Johanna Konta took on Croatia’s Donna Vekic in Round 2. The unseeded Vekic fought firmly for her own place in the third round, and took control in the first set, which eventually went to the Briton in a tiebreak. 21-year-old Vekic then took set 2 with a strong scoreline, with the decider also a close one.
This was perhaps a revenge match for Konta, who lost to Vekic in the finals of the WTA Aegon Open a few weeks ago, with the Croatian lifting the title in the grass-court warm-up tournament.
One thing is for sure – this was perhaps the most hard-fought match in the draw so far, and it was a final-worthy fight. WTA founder and tennis legend Billie Jean King agreed, tweeting out her respect for the two players – as did Vekic about her rival.
Venus progresses
Six-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, seeded 10th at SW19, won her second round match against China’s Qiang Wang from a set down early on. 37-year-old Williams, the oldest player in the women’s draw, lost the first set 4-6 before thundering back to win the next two 6-4, 6-1 to beat the unseeded Wang.
She goes on to face Japanese powerhouse Naomi Osaka, who upset 22nd seed Barbora Strycova in Round 2.
This is a big victory for Venus mentally, with the former World No. 1 currently under investigation for a traffic accident that killed a 78-year-old man in Palm Beach, Florida. The victim’s family have currently brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Williams there, and the visibly upset and struggling tennis player left her press conference after being bombarded with questions.
The outcome of that lawsuit remains to be seen, but Williams has been excelling on the court nevertheless.
Big day for India
Indian former World No. 1 Sania Mirza, who is seeded 13th in the women’s doubles with Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, took a 6-4, 6-3 win over the powerful Zhang Shuai and Naomi Osaka in a little over an hour.
Indian doubles pair Divij Sharan and Purav Raja also fought their way to a strong win yesterday, defeating the very experienced pair of Joao Sousa and local player Kyle Edmund 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in a just over three-hour match.
They have quite the contest ahead of them, though, as they come up against doubles veterans Raven Klaasen of South Africa and partner Rajeev Ram of the USA; Ram and Klaasen made the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year, losing to eventual runners-up Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in a close match.
India’s Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan put up a tough fight against local hopes Jay Clarke and Marcus Willis in Round 1 of the men’s doubles, taking the opening two sets – the first in a tiebreak – before losing steam in the end in a hard-fought match.
Rohan Bopanna now pairs with Roger-Vasselin for his first doubles match today, while Leander Paes gears up for his 23rd Wimbledon appearance with Canadian partner Adil Shamasdin.
Kvitova’s fairytale return ends
Petra Kvitova, returning to Wimbledon after the horrific knife attack that nearly ended her sporting career, staged quite the comeback to win the grass-court warm-up at the Birmingham Classic and won her opener at SW19 against Johanna Larsson in dominant fashion. Today, however, her chances of winning a third Wimbledon title came to an end courtesy American Madison Brengle.
Powerful server Brengle played a physically struggling Kvitova, who called a doctor onto the court as her pain intensified; the 27-year-old later said she “just wanted to finish the match” and went on to play it out.
“My body is not great,” she said, “but mentally I am glad it is over.”
Kvitova had the tendons in her left arm – her dominant playing hand – severed in a knife attack before undergoing a successful surgery and ongoing physical rehabilitation.
Nadal in steamroller mode
Rafael Nadal, although the King of Clay and not as good as some of his top-ranked peers on grass, made quick work of American Donald Young, who has found some success of late, and whose game is aided by the quick courts at Wimbledon.
Nadal faced a little hiccup at the end while serving for the match, when Young broke his serve to try and shift momentum. Nadal eventually broke back to win that match 6-4, 6-2, 7-5, but will face stiff opposition in Round 3 in Russian powerhouse Karen Khachanov, who put up quite the fight against Roger Federer at the semi-finals of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.
