Wimbledon is now well underway with day three drawing to a close on Wednesday. The results were mostly as expected, but as always, a few surprises and treats left spectators in awe. Some excellent tennis was played, and as college students enthusiasts, we look to the professionals for our inspiration.
Johanna Konta, world number 7, took to the center court in the morning to play Donna Vekic, an opponent she lost to only two weeks ago in the Nottingham final. The pair gave us perhaps the
most exhilarating game of the whole day. Konta snatched the first set with fine breaks, but Vekic won back the second, leading to an extended final and an overall run time of 3 hours and 10 minutes. There were 97 clear winners shot throughout the game and only 45 unforced errors. In a lot of ways, this was one of the smoothest high-level matchups Wimbledon has ever seen. Konta eventually prevailed and made it through to the third round for the first time.
Andy Murray followed up on center court and made fairly light work of Dustin Brown. The German-Jamaican is known for his unorthodox style of play, blasting rapid serves and mixing them with erratic volleys, drop shots, and backhands. He is even more well-known for
knocking out Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon two years ago. Though crowd-pleaser Brown showed moments of genius, Murray’s persistence won him the game, and true to his record, he proceeds to the third round.
Rafael Nadal, another one to watch as a key favorite to win the competition, currently with
10/3 odds on BetStars, whitewashed opponent Donald Young with some excellent play. He took all three sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. Nadal is on top form, and the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion will progress through to the next round confidently.
One of the shocks of the day was Petra Kvitova’s defeat against the American player Brengle, ranked 98. Kvitova was one of the favorites to win and is seeded 11th in the world, but it seems her confidence is not yet rebuilt following surgery on her left hand after a knife attack. After Brengle took the first set, Kvitova stormed back to win the second set 6-1, but couldn’t hold on in the end. Brengle advances.
Venus Williams will advance to the third round after coming back from a set down to beat Wang Qiang, while Simona Halep will advance after a convincing two-set victory over Beatriz Haddad Mara. Jekna Ostapenko, who recently gained a lot of traction with her French Open win, also goes through to round three of Wimbledon after beating Francoise Abanda. Madison Key lost out to Camilla Giorgi.
In another shocking moment, this time for all the wrong reasons, Daniil Medvedez, who made headlines for knocking the U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka out in the first round, lost to Ruben Bemelmans in a tiebreak. He then accused the umpire of something-or-other, hurled abuse, and
threw coins at her chair. Bad sportsmanship! He is now out of the competition.
It was an eventful third day at Wimbledon with some awesome performances from top athletes who are all looking to make their mark, and possibly become the next champion. Many of the favorites made it through, so what will round three bring? We’ll all be watching.