WIMBLEDON -Petra Kvitova has plenty of experience on the grass courts of Wimbledon. After all, she’s a two-time champion at the All England Club.
But that doesn’t mean everything is easy for her once she steps onto the green courts in southwest London. She has spoken about being nervous when she comes to Wimbledon, and she showed some of those nerves on Thursday when she beat Ana Bogdan 6-1, 7-6 (5). It was a straight-set victory, but the second set wasn’t straightforward. Kvitova was leading 5-1 when Bogdan started to reel off game after game. Then Kvitova had a match point while serving at 5-4, but failed to convert that chance and then the game itself, eventually leading to the tiebreaker. “Especially a few games on my serve, it was really long games, and mentally very tough,” the 25th-seeded Kvitova said. “I think maybe even this took some energy from my serve and I just couldn’t make it.
Sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova lost to British wildcard entry Katie Boulter 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. The 25-year-old Boulter broke for a 5-4 lead in the final set and converted her first match point with a volley winner. Boulter will face Harmony Tan in the next round.
In the men’s draw, Nick Kyrgios advanced to the third round for the sixth time in eight Wimbledon appearances. The unseeded Australian beat 26th-seeded Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. It was a much easier match than the first round, when Kyrgios was taken to five sets by British wildcard entry Paul Jubb. Kyrgios will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fourth-seeded Greek beat Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court. Tsitsipas will be playing in the third round at the All England Club for the first time since 2018. No. 11 Taylor Fitz of the US also advanced, along with No. 21 Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands and Richard Gasquet of France. No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain withdrew from the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. He had been scheduled to play Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia.
But that doesn’t mean everything is easy for her once she steps onto the green courts in southwest London. She has spoken about being nervous when she comes to Wimbledon, and she showed some of those nerves on Thursday when she beat Ana Bogdan 6-1, 7-6 (5). It was a straight-set victory, but the second set wasn’t straightforward. Kvitova was leading 5-1 when Bogdan started to reel off game after game. Then Kvitova had a match point while serving at 5-4, but failed to convert that chance and then the game itself, eventually leading to the tiebreaker. “Especially a few games on my serve, it was really long games, and mentally very tough,” the 25th-seeded Kvitova said. “I think maybe even this took some energy from my serve and I just couldn’t make it.
Sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova lost to British wildcard entry Katie Boulter 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. The 25-year-old Boulter broke for a 5-4 lead in the final set and converted her first match point with a volley winner. Boulter will face Harmony Tan in the next round.
In the men’s draw, Nick Kyrgios advanced to the third round for the sixth time in eight Wimbledon appearances. The unseeded Australian beat 26th-seeded Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. It was a much easier match than the first round, when Kyrgios was taken to five sets by British wildcard entry Paul Jubb. Kyrgios will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas. The fourth-seeded Greek beat Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court. Tsitsipas will be playing in the third round at the All England Club for the first time since 2018. No. 11 Taylor Fitz of the US also advanced, along with No. 21 Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands and Richard Gasquet of France. No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain withdrew from the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. He had been scheduled to play Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia.
