London: No. 3-seeded Elina Svitolina became the latest upset victim in the Wimbledon women’s draw when she lost in the second round on Thursday to Magda Linette of Poland, who earned the biggest victory of her career, 6-3, 6-4.
Eight of the top 11 players in the WTA rankings are out of the tournament due to defeat, withdrawal or injury. Linette had 28 winners to just eight for Svitolina, a semifinalist at Wimbledon two years ago. Linette, ranked 44th, had never before beaten a top-15 player in a completed match. Svitolina joins No. 4 Sofia Kenin, No. 5 Bianca Andreescu, No. 6 Serena Williams, No. 9 Belinda Bencic and No. 10 Petra Kvitova in making an early exit at the All England Club. Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, had to retire injured during her first-round match. In total, eight of the top 11 women in the WTA rankings are out as Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka did not enter.
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova extended her winning streak to 14 matches by beating Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-4. Krejcikova seeks to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back. A former Wimbledon doubles champion, Krejcikova is making her tournament debut in the singles draw.
In men’s play, fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev hit 13 aces, lost only 12 points on his serve and advanced to the third round by beating Tennys Sandgren 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. Zverev was the US Open runner-up in 2020 and a semifinalist at last month’s French Open, but he has never been past the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
American Shelby Rogers matched her best Wimbledon result by reaching the third round when she beat No. 15 Maria Sakkari 7-5, 6-4. No. 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova swept past Kristyna Pliskova 6-3, 6-3. No. 19 Karolina Muchova and No. 30 Paula Badosa also advanced.
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