Novak Djokovic, double defending champion, logically dominated the American Denis Kudla (114th and from qualifying) on Friday despite a complicated end to the match 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), to climb in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
The Serbian, big favorite of the tournament where he hopes to equal the record of 20 Grand Slam titles jointly held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (absent), will face the Chilean Cristian Garin (20th) on Monday for a place in the quarterfinals.
READ ALSO. Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert qualified for the second round of Wimbledon
The world No. 1 reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the 13th time in sixteen consecutive appearances since 2005. He is aiming for a 6th coronation at the All England Lawn Tennis Club which would put him on the path to the Grand Slam (after his victories at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros this year), or even the Golden Slam which combines, in the same year, the four major titles and the Olympic gold medal.
Shapovalov stoppe Murray
The Scottish Andy Murray (118th, invited by the organizers) was released in three sets by the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (12th) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. This is the first time in sixteen years, since his first appearance at Wimbledon, that Andy Murray has been eliminated so early in the tournament.
Super Shapovalov
The Canadian proves a step too far for Andy Murray and moves on to the second week at The Championships #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/P93HEZSuwc
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2021
Eye-catching, grumpy as usual, he was overtaken by the ardor and speed of Shapovalov who, at 22, reached for the first time the round of 16 at Wimbledon, a tournament where he had never passed 2nd. tour (2018) in three participations.
Firsts
Several players qualified for their first round of 16 at Wimbledon. This is the case of Aryna Sabalenka, 4th in the world, who beat the Colombian Maria Osorio (94th) 6-0, 6-3. “The score of the first set may be 6-0, but it was not easy, assured the 23-year-old Belarusian. Every game was hooked, she had a lot of break points. Both sets were difficult. “
For his part, Andrey Rublev, 7th in the world, reached for the first time in his career the round of 16 by eliminating the Italian Fabio Fognini (31st) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
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Liudmilla Samsonova, invited by the organizers, qualified for the round of 16. © REUTERS
Liudmila Samsonova, 65th in the world, did well on her “wild card” at Wimbledon since, for her first participation, she qualified in the round of 16 by dismissing the American Sloane Stephens (73rd) 6-2, 2-6 , 6-4.
It will also be a first for the Swiss Viktorija Golubic (66th) and the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (24th), the first Arab player to have reached the quarterfinals of a Major, in 2020 in Australia.
55 minutes
Iga Swiatek, 9th in the world, was in a hurry to qualify for the round of 16 at Wimbledon, where she is playing for the second time, and let it be known to Romanian Irina Begu (79th) who only held out 55 minutes before to give in 6-1, 6-0.
55 minutes later… @iga_swiatek races into the second week of #Wimbledon, defeating Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-0 pic.twitter.com/waTzzBa0ot
– Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2021
“I’m playing better and better with each game and I’m more and more confident because I’ve been playing on grass for a while now. I train a lot on my days off ”, commented the 20-year-old Polish winner of Roland-Garros 2020.
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