Canada's Andreescu, Shapovalov earn victories at Wimbledon
The Canadian Press | Posted: July 6, 2023 2:26 PM | Last Updated: July 6, 2023
Raonic, Fernandez eliminated; fellow Canadian Dabrowski ousted in women's doubles
Denis Shapovalov and Bianca Andreescu advanced Thursday at Wimbledon on a mixed day for Canadian players at the All England Club.
Shapovalov, the No. 26 seed from Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated Gregoire Barrere of France 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7) in second-round men's singles play. He needed one hour 52 minutes to complete the victory.
He'll next face British wild-card entry Liam Broady, who upset fourth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway in five sets.
WATCH | Shapovalov dismisses Barrere in straight sets:
Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., opened with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Hungary's Anna Bondar.
The 50th-ranked Canadian will face 26th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine in the second round.
WATCH | Andreescu ousts Bondar:
Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., lost their respective second-round singles matches while Ottawa's Gabriel Dabrowski fell in women's doubles.
Raonic dropped a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-4 decision to 16th-seeded American Tommy Paul. Caroline Garcia of France beat Fernandez 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
WATCH | Paul eliminates Raonic:
American Lauren Davis and Rosalie Van Der Hoek of the Netherlands topped Dabrowski and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-4, 6-0 in first-round play.
Dabrowski, Andreescu and Fernandez are all entered in the mixed doubles competition, which has yet to begin. Fernandez is also scheduled to partner with American Taylor Townsend on Friday for a first-round women's doubles match against Americans Alycia Parks and Peyton Stearns.
WATCH | Fernandez ousted by Garcia:
Also, Vancouver's Rebecca Marino fell to Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu in three sets (2-6, 6-3, 2-6) in the resumption of their rain-delayed first-round match.
Many matches were suspended or postponed over the first few days of the Grand Slam event due to wet weather.
WATCH | Marino falls to Begu in 1st round:
Among other winners was Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion from Switzerland. Wawrinka beat No. 29-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round.
The 38-year-old Wawrinka, who won his major titles at the other three Grand Slam tournaments, will next face Novak Djokovic — the 23-time Grand Slam champion who is going for his record-tying eighth title at Wimbledon. That match is scheduled to be played Friday on Centre Court.
The defending champion in the women's tournament, Elena Rybakina, moved into the third round by beating Alize Cornet 6-2, 7-6 (2).
Alexander Zverev, who reached the 2020 U.S. Open final but missed most of last season after injuring his ankle in the French Open semifinals, finally got on court and beat Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in the first round.
The 19th-seeded German has twice reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, including in 2021. He again reached the French Open semifinals this year.
Murray-Tsitsipas clash suspended due to curfew
The match between two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas was suspended at 10:40 p.m. and will resume Friday.
Played with the roof closed at a loud Centre Court filled with "Let's go, Andy! Let's go!" chants from fans, that one was stopped just after Murray took a two-sets-to-one lead. Tsitsipas took the opening set 7-6 (3), but Murray took the next two 7-6 (2), 6-4. Murray, 36 and with an artificial hip, slipped and fell behind a baseline but arose and finished that third set just before play was halted.
There was new ground for a group of men who won to reach the third round at the All England Club for the first time: No. 14 seed Lorenzo Musetti, qualifier Maximillian Marterer, Mikael Ymer, Quentin Halys and Roman Safiullin.
Ymer came back from a two-set deficit to knock off No. 9 Taylor Fritz of the U.S. 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
No. 10 Frances Tiafoe of the U.S., a semifinalist at the U.S. Open last September, advanced with a straight-sets win over Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker.
Pegula, Kenin, Svitolina advance
Tiafoe and Paul were joined in the third round by two American women, No. 4 Jessica Pegula and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Ukraine's Elina Svitolina continued her dream return to the Tour after becoming a mom to edge out 28th seed Elise Mertens of Belgium.
Donna Vekic came back from a set and 5-2 down in the second to eliminate 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens.
There was the end of the line for Anett Kontaveit, who suffered a 6-1 6-2 loss to Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.
Kontaveit was the last player to lose to Serena Williams — at the U.S. Open last year while ranked No. 2 — and said before Wimbledon she would be retiring because of a chronic bad back.
And there was the latest sign of promise from Mirra Andreeva, a 16-year-old qualifier from Russia.
Andreeva made her way into the third round at the second consecutive major when 2021 French Open singles and doubles champion Barbora Krejcikova quit because she was hurt while trailing 6-3, 4-0.