Wimbledon 2022: French player who beat Serena reaches 4th round

Wimbledon: Whether her opponents are tournament favorites or crowd favorites, Harmony Tan keeps knocking them out of Wimbledon. First there was Serena Williams, a seven-time champion at the All England Club. Then came 32nd-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo. On Saturday, it was British player Katie Boulter. And her next challenge will be against another American after […]

Wimbledon: Whether her opponents are tournament favorites or crowd favorites, Harmony Tan keeps knocking them out of Wimbledon.

First there was Serena Williams, a seven-time champion at the All England Club. Then came 32nd-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo. On Saturday, it was British player Katie Boulter. And her next challenge will be against another American after 20th-seeded Amanda Anisimova beat French Open runner-up Coco Gauff on Centre Court.

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“I think I like grass,” said Tan, who has won three straight matches at a tournament for the first time in her career. “I really like to play with some slice, volley, everything with my game.”

The unseeded Frenchwoman is making her debut at the All England Club. She has played at the French Open four times, reaching the second round once. She also played at this year’s Australian Open and again reached the second round. At the U.S. Open, she lost in the first round in 2018 in her only appearance at Flushing Meadows.

On Saturday, Tan beat Boulter 6-1, 6-1 on No. 2 Court. She never faced a break point in the match and converted five of the 10 she earned.

Tan’s debut at Wimbledon came on Day 2 of the tournament on Centre Court, the biggest stadium on the grounds. That’s where she eliminated Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, in three sets.

“It was really emotional for the first round against Serena, and after it was just play match for match,” Tan said on court. “Today was really good tennis. I don’t know why, but … it depends (on) the day.”

Tan will next face Anisimova, who will also be playing in the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.

The 20-year-old American beat Gauff 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 after starting the match by losing the first three games. She then lost the tiebreaker despite taking a 4-1 lead.

“I think the worst thing for a tennis player is to lose 7-6 in the first set,” Anisimova said. “I had the same experience at French Open. I think from experience it’s really important to just bounce back and give everything I have.”

Ajla Tomljanovic also advanced, beating 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

In the men’s draw, two Americans advanced to the fourth round and two others were eliminated.

Taylor Fritz, who is seeded 11th, beat Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (3), while Brandon Nakashima defeated Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.

Jenson Brooksby, however, lost to Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 and Jack Sock was beaten by Jason Kubler 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

No. 19 Alex de Minaur and No. 21 Botic van de Zandschulp also made it to the fourth round.

Later Saturday, French Open champion Iga Swiatek was playing Alize Cornet on No. 1 Court. Swiatek is the top-seeded player at Wimbledon and has won 37 straight matches.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova followed Gauff and Anisimova on Centre Court. Then Rafael Nadal, another two-time champion at the All England Club, was to play Lorenzo Sonego in the main stadium after that.