Barbora Krejcikova barely pulled through as the defending Wimbledon champion fought hard against Caroline Dolehide in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 second-round match on Thursday. The 17th seed appeared lackluster and committed many unforced errors, besides being unable to find her rhythm on Court Two. However, a lady in green is still recovering from a season with back and thigh injuries and the Czech’s inconsistency was evident during the match—giving 39 unforced errors in a tense session.
“I feel just relieved,” Krejcikova said. “It was a game up and down… I am very thankful to be through.” She will meet 10th seed Emma Navarro in the upcoming match, who is a much tougher opponent.
On the other hand, top players Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina gave out different results in this round. Swiatek got over the initial loss of a set and defeated world No. 208 Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 on Centre Court. At the time of writing, only five Grand Slam titles are held by Swiatek, than she has never reached the semi-finals at SW19, but she asserts “that there is hope” by the grass run at Bad Homburg.
Rybakina, last year’s champion, was very ruthless in her defeat of Greece’s Maria Sakkari to the tune of 6-3, 6-1. Even though there was a break in the second set early on, the Kazakh reasserted her dominance and wrapped up the win in no time.
Youngster Mirra Andreeva was also excellent, driving by Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 7-6(4) to continue on to the third round of the tournament. This 18-year-old Russian girl is coached by 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez. It is obvious that the girl was great in some parts but at the same
Andreeva said of Martinez: “She really brings out the best in me. ”.
Andreeva, who made it to the fourth round here as a 16-year-old, is now the only teenager left after six starters in the women’s draw. Her journey at Wimbledon continues with a match against US player Hailey Baptiste in the next round.
