On the second day at Wimbledon 2018, more top seeds failed in attempts to win opening round matches.
Dual champion Petra Kvitová (8), one of my selections for this years semi final, was shown the door in brilliant fashion by Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4 4-6 6-0.
One less hurdle for top seed Simona Halep, but still there is Johanna Konta (22) as a prospective third round opponent. Both had straight sets wins, Halep over Kurumi Nara and Konta over Natalia Vikhlyantseva.
Caroline Garcia (6) was another big name to tumble out of contention in her first try. Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic showed her wares, ending Garcia’s hopes 7-6(2) 6-3.
Of course Bencic is a former top ten player, plagued by injury, and in the middle of a comeback. A dangerous floater in the draw confirmed.
The beneficiaries of Garcia’s exit are Carla Suárez Navarro (27), who was her potential third round opponent, Angie Kerber (11), potential round of sixteen match up, and Garbiñe Muguruza (3), possible quarter final opponent. All three of these players were first round winners, together with:
Jelena Ostapenko (12) who defeated Katy Dunne 6-3 7-6(5)
Daria Kasatkina (14) who defeated Jana Fett 6-2 7-5
Elise Mertens (15) who defeated Danielle Collins 6-3 6-2
Ash Barty (17) who defeated Stefanie Voegele 7-5 6-3
Other ladies seeds to lose first round battles:
Maria Sharapova (24), defeated by fellow Russian and qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko, ranked 132, 6-7(3) 7-6(3) 6-4 in a match lasting three hours.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (30), defeated by Su-Wei Hsieh 6-4 4-6 6-3
Shocks on the men’s side included David Goffin (10) being soundly defeated by Australia’s Matthew Ebden in straight sets 6-4 6-3 6-4
It was a good day for the Aussies with other wins for Alex de Minaur against Marco Cecchinato (29) 6-4 6-7(6) 7-6(5) 6-4, Nick Kyrgios (15) over Denis Istomin 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-3, and Bernard Tomic against fellow lucky loser in qualifying Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 6-2 7-6(2)
Dominic Thiem (7) also left Wimbledon, retiring, down two sets to Marcos Baghdatis and 0-2 in the third, when his back complaint was too much for him to continue.
This leaves Novak Djokovic (12) the highest seed left in that area of the draw, and the favourite to reach the quarter final stage, possibly to meet Sascha Zverev (4). Both had solid wins, Djokovic defeating Tennys Sandgren 6-3 6-1 6-2, and Zverev defeating James Duckworth 7-5 6-2 6-0.
Other seeds to advance included:
Rafa Nadal (2), defeating Dudi Sela 6-3 6-3 6-2
Juan Martin del Potro (5), defeating Peter Gojowczyk 6-3 6-4 6-3
Diego Schwartzman (14), defeating Mirza Basic 6-3 6-2 6-1
Other seeds to exit:
Pablo Carreno Busta (20), losing to Radu Albot 3-6 6-0 6-7(5) 6-2 6-1
Fernando Verdasco (30), defeated by Frances Tiafoe 7-6(6) 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3
Jack Sock (18), defeated by Matteo Berrettini 6-7(5) 6-7(3) 6-4 7-5 6-2
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