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DAY 3 WOMEN'S WRAP: Sabalenka and Keys advance, Paolini stunned

football02 July 2025 20:41| © Reuters
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Aryna Sabalenka was given a tougher workout than she would have wanted before the top seed dismantled Czech Marie Bouzkova 7-6(4) 6-4 to advance to the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.

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As the sun played hide-and-seek with the grey clouds that hovered over Centre Court, Sabalenka kept knocking on the door in the opening set, but was shut out by Bouzkova each time and dropped serve with a double fault in the 11th game.

A frustrated Sabalenka let out a scream when she failed to convert a breakpoint in the next game, but the 27-year-old quickly composed herself to force a tiebreak with a backhand winner on her next opportunity.

"That was a tough moment in the match," Sabalenka said.

"I was just trying to put the ball back on that side and then hope that I'd be able to break her back, because until that point, my returns weren't great enough to break her serve and I'm really glad everything clicked.

"I felt a bit better in that moment and I think that's why I was able to win the tiebreak and get the win in straight sets."

The three-times Grand Slam champion from Belarus, who has a golden opportunity to win her first Wimbledon title with several seeds losing early, led the tiebreak after a couple of errors from Bouzkova and wrapped up the set with a forehand winner.

An untimely error at the net by Bouzkova gifted Sabalenka the break in the fifth game of the second set and there was no looking back from there with the twice semi-finalist holding firm to close out the win.

Sabalenka said she was focused on avoiding the trapdoor after second seed Coco Gauff, number three Jessica Pegula, fifth seed Zheng Qinwen and number nine Paula Badosa were all sent packing in the first round.

"Honestly, it's very sad to see so many top players losing in the first round, but you're better off focusing on yourself and staying away from the results," Sabalenka added.

"Of course, you're going to know the overall picture, but it's better just to take it one step at a time and do your best every time you're out here competing.

"I hope there are no more upsets in this tournament."

KEYS STAYS ON COURSE

There is nothing flashy about Madison Keys, but she knows how to get the job done and that priceless quality was on display as she eased past Olga Danilovic 6-4 6-2  to reach the third round.

The Australian Open champion is on the hunt for further Grand Slam glory at the All England Club and could become the first woman since the great Serena Williams to win those two majors in the same season.

Yet whereas Williams' ferocious weapons were clear for all to see, Keys is more the model of consistency.

She has a big forehand and serve, but a potent part of her arsenal is being able to step up when it matters most.

The 37th-ranked Danilovic put up a brave fight, which included saving five break points in one game in the second set, but Keys' consistency meant she never looked like causing an upset.

On paper, the numbers were fairly even. The winners' count was 19-15 in Keys' favour while Danilovic made marginally more unforced errors - but Keys broke her opponent four times and lost her own serve once.

After a nervy opener when she beat Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse in three sets, this was far more comfortable for the American - and with rain returning to Wimbledon after scorching temperatures on the first two days, Keys was much happier.

"I definitely felt a little more comfortable today, it's the cloudy rainy England we know and love so I felt a little more normal," she said.

"I knew that she could play really great tennis, I really just wanted to get a lead and run with it."

Next up for Keys is a match against Germany's Laura Siegmund, who has already earned her best result at Wimbledon by reaching the third round.

PAOLINI STUNNED AS SEEDS CONTINUE TO FALL

Jasmine Paolini was the latest victim of Wimbledon's spate of giant-killings as last year's runner-up suffered a shock second-round exit against Russian world number 62 Kamilla Rakhimova.

Just 12 months after her run to the All England Club final, Paolini followed a host of highly-ranked seeds out of the grass-court Grand Slam.

The Italian fourth seed, beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in the 2024 Wimbledon title match, slumped to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss in two hours and 18 minutes on Court Three.

After reaching the French Open and Wimbledon finals last year, Paolini has failed to make the quarterfinals in each of her last four Grand Slam appearances, although she won the Roland Garros doubles crown with partner Sara Errani in June.

The 29-year-old's defeat against Rakhimova means four of the top five seeds in the women's singles have been eliminated just three days into the event.

Second seed Coco Gauff, third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen were beaten in the first round.

World No 1 Sabalenka is the last of the top five seeds remaining after her win against Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the second round.

RADUCANU BACK TO HER CAREFREE BEST

Facing a rival who has already experienced the joys of winning Wimbledon did not faze Emma Raducanu as the Briton rode out the "crazy pressure" heaped on her slender shoulders to defeat Marketa Vondrousova 6-3 6-3.

In a battle between two Grand Slam champions, both unseeded after years of trials and tribulations, Czech Vondrousova would have fancied her chances of knocking out Britain's big hope.

After all, the 2023 champion had arrived at the All England Club fresh from winning the grasscourt title in Berlin, with victories over Australian Open champion Madison Keys and world number one Aryna Sabalenka en route.

However, it was Raducanu whose game sparkled on Centre Court as she produced the kind of carefree, yet potent, shots that had carried her to the US Open title in 2021.

"Today I played really, really well. There were some points that I have no idea how I turned around," a delighted Raducanu told the crowd.

"I knew playing Marketa was going to be an incredibly difficult match. She has won this tournament which is a huge achievement. I'm really pleased with how I played my game the whole way through."

An eye-popping running backhand passing shot winner handed her the break for a 4-2 lead in the first set.

Although a sloppy service game gave Vondrousova the break back in the next game, the British number one wasted little time in regaining the advantage for a 5-3 lead after a forehand error from the Czech.

Moments later thundering roars from the Centre Court crowd could be heard around the All England Club, and beyond, as Vondrousova surrendered the set with yet another miscued forehand.

Clearly unsettled, the errors started piling up for Vondrousova, who had previously admitted that she did not envy the "crazy pressure" Raducanu had to deal with day-in and day-out after becoming the first British woman to win a major in 44 years.

Yet another forehand slapped long by Vondrousova handed Raducanu a break for 2-1 and from then on there was no stopping the Briton.

She sealed a third-round meeting with Sabalenka after her opponent swiped a backhand wide.

ARGENTINA'S SIERRE CASHING IN LUCKY BREAK

Argentina's Solana Sierra had never won a Grand Slam match heading into this year's Wimbledon and when she lost in the final round of qualifying the wait looked set to continue.

Even more galling for the 21-year-old was that she failed to convert a match point in her loss to Australia's Talia Gibson.

Less than a week later, however, thanks to a lucky break she has become the first Argentine woman to reach the third round at the All England Club since Gisela Dulko in 2009 and she is better off to the tune of £152 000.

Sierra, who had already checked out of her accommodation, learned only at lunchtime on Monday that Belgium's Greet Minnen had pulled out of the tournament and that she had been selected in the draw for a lucky loser spot in the main draw.

Twenty minutes later she was on court to play Australia's Olivia Gadecki whom she beat 6-2 7-6(8) -- breaking down in tears and hugging her entourage after sealing match point.

On Wednesday, the world number 101 took to Court One and silenced the majority of the 12 000 fans by coming from a set down to put out Britain's Katie Boulter 6-7(7) 6-2 6-1.

With 102-ranked Cristina Bucsa of Spain up next, Sierra's extraordinary adventure might could still have some way to run.

"I might book my room for three or four days more," Sierra, who trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, told reporters. "It's been crazy, I've changed it three times."

Sierra spent Monday morning hitting with Canada's Victoria Mboko, who also got in as a lucky loser and who also won her first round, in the hope of a late call-up.

It proved a very wise decision.

"It's a bit crazy, because I was already out of the tournament, and I had luck with the lucky loser. But yeah, I'm super happy. I took the opportunity," she said after her impressive defeat of 43rd-ranked Boulter.

Having so little time to prepare for her first-round match was actually a blessing in disguise, Sierra said.

"It was like 15 minutes before. Yeah, I didn't have too much time. I just changed. We took five minutes, and then I entered the court. But it was good because I didn't think too much."

Having never won a Tour-level match on grass before Monday, Sierra said it was a surface she was beginning to enjoy, now that she had adapted to the lower skidding bounce.

Asked what she would do with her biggest ever pay-day, Sierra said she had her eye on a necklace she had previously thought was too expensive, but first she had a job to do.

"I'm still in the tournament. I have another match in two days, I'm really happy, but I want to keep going," she said.

MORE RESULTS

Elise Mertens (BEL x24) bt Ann Li (USA) 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2

Cristina Bucsa (ESP) bt Donna Vekic (CRO x22) 6-1, 6-3

Laura Siegemund (GER) bt Leylah Fernandez (CAN x29) 6-2, 6-3

Linda Noskova (CZE x30) bt Eva Lys (GER) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3

Dalma Galfi (HUN) bt Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA x21) 7-6 (9/7), 6-1

Amanda Anisimova (USA x13) bt Renata Zarazua (MEX) 6-4, 6-3

Diane Parry (FRA) bt Diana Shnaider (RUS x12) 6-4, 6-1

Sonay Kartal (GBR) bt Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) 6-2, 6-2

Naomi Osaka (JPN) bt Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 6-3, 6-2

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