Wimbledon Day 3, As it Happened: Defending champion Djokovic and 15-year-old Gauff advance
Follow live updates and commentary from Day three of Wimbledon 2019 which will see Novak Djokovic, Karolina Pliskova, Cori Gauff and Simona Halep among others in action.
Published : Jul 03, 2019 15:36 IST
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live blog of Day three of Wimbledon 2019.
LIVE:
01:40am: KNOCKED OUT! Leander Paes and Benoit Paire lose to Kukushkin and Bublik in a men's doubles first round game after winning the first two sets. The Kazakhstan pair won the match 4-6, 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-6(4), 9-7 in three hours and 25 minutes.
01:35am: Gauff leads 4-3 against Rybarikova in the second set.
01:20am: India's Leander Paes and his French partner Benoit Paire are level 6-6 in the fifth set against the Kazakhstan duo of Mikhail Kukushkin and Alexander Bublik.
01:06am: Gauff wins the first set 6-3 in 29 minutes against Rybarikova.
12:56am: Cori Gauff breaks first in her game against Magdalena Rybarikova. She is up 4-2 in the first set.
12:35am: Last update in the men's singles section - South Africa's Kevin Anderson beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 to make the third round.
12:30am: Novak Djokovic, the defending men's singles champion, advances to the third round. The Serbian, ranked number one in the world, convincingly beat Denis Kudla of USA 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
12:10am: We're down to the last two men's matches of the evening - Djokovic has a two set lead and is closing in on a comfortable win against Denis Kudla, while Kevin Anderson is a game away from victory over Janko Tipsarevic.
12:00am: The Indian duo of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja lost in straight sets to the Aussie pairing of Jordan Thompson and Lleyton Heweitt. The final scoreline reads 1-6, 3-6, 2-6. Meanwhile, Leander Paes and Benoit Paire are leading two sets to one against the Kazhaki team of Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kushushkin.
11:45pm: Felix Auger-Aliassime beats Corentin Moutet 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Canadian wonderkid is into the third round.
11:35pm: Sharan and Demoliner are into the men's doubles second round with a 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 win over 13th seeds Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.
Meanwhile, Leander Paes and Benoit Paire are two sets up against Bublik/Kukushkin.
11:22pm: Kudla holds and then breaks! Seems like Djokovic isn't in that much of a hurry after all. But he goes on to close the set 6-3. Still a much respectable score than when it was 5-0 to Djokovic.
11:20pm: Anastasia Potapova has won the first set 6-3 against Petra Martic. Caroline Wozniacki is also ahead in her game against Veronika Kudermetova. The Dane won the first set 7-6 (5).
11:15pm: Jeevan and Purav have lost the second set, too. Thompson and Hewitt lead 6-2, 6-3.
11:09pm: Djokovic is in a hurry. 5-0 up after 13 minutes. Kudla has won only 6 points.
11:00pm: Novak Djokovic is on court! Finally our lead image comes of use. He faces Denis Kudla. Kudla reached a career-high ranking of 53 in 2016.
10:49pm: Sharan/Demoliner take the second set 6-4. Leander Paes and Benoit Paire have won their first set 6-4.
10:44pm: Sharan and Demoliner are a break up in the second set and are serving for the match. One of their opponents, Andreas Mies, is facing Serena Williams and Andy Murray in the mixed doubles first round.
10:39pm: A 3 hour 42 minute battle comes to an end and a limping Edmund walks towards the net to shake hands with a concerned Fernando Verdasco , who wins 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4. But a great comeback from the Spaniard after losing the first two sets.
10:33pm: When Leander Paes first made his first appearance at Wimbledon in 1993, Djokovic was 6, Nadal was 7 and Federer was 11 years old. Dominic Thiem wasn't even born!
Sharan and Demoliner have broken back and it's 3-3 in the second set.
10:30pm: Sharan and Demoliner have broken in the second set. Krawietz and Mies lead 3-2.
Jeevan and Purav have also been broken. Thompson and Hewitt lead 4-1 in the first set.
10:18pm: Divij Sharan and Marcelo Demoliner win the first set 7-5. And as that happens, more Indians start their matches.
Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja are playing Jordan Thompson and Lleyton Hewitt. And the Wimbledon veteran (legend, if I may) Leander Paes and Benoit Paire are playing Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin.
10:14pm: Edmund drops his serve. That right knee is clearly troubling him. Verdasco leads 2-1 in the fifth set.
10:02pm: Karen Khachanov makes it to the third round beating Feliciano Lopez in four sets. He wins 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
And Verdasco has won the fourth set 6-3! Another match goes into a fifth set.
10:00pm: Verdasco breaks to go 5-3 up in the fourth set. He'll serve for the set. Kyle Edmund is showing signs of frustration.
9:49pm: Indian in action alert! Divij Sharan and Marcelo Demoliner are facing German pair Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies in a men's doubles first round match.
9:25pm: Fernando Verdasco stays in it! He wins the third set tiebreak 7-3. Kyle Edmund leads 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3).
9:14pm: On Court 3 is an interesting battle between youngsters Felix Auger-Aliassime and a part-time pianist and poet Corentin Moutet. Felix has won the first set 6-3.
Moutet won the ATP Challenger in Chennai earlier this year. We were there to cover it.
READ | Moutet reigns supreme at Chennai Open ATP Challenger
9:05pm: Simona Halep is through to the third round 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win, but only after her opponent Mihaela Buzarnescu's minute-long protest against a decision that went against her. Halep will face Victoria Azarenka in the third round. Could be the match to watch out for.
8:46pm: The Romanians on Court 2 have entered a final set after Buzarnescu fought back to take the second set 6-4. Up a break, Halep leads 3-0 in the third set.
8:44pm: Karen Khachanov brings the match level a 6-4 win in the second set against Feliciano Lopez.
8:28pm: Milos Raonic is through to the third round of Wimbledon for the sixth consecutive year, with a 7-6 (1), 7-5, 7-6(4) win over Robin Haase.
That means he's meeting Opelka next.
REPORT | Wawrinka suffers shock defeat to Opelka
"Cori met a little GOAT..."(in the Mary had a little lamb tune). Moment of the day? Certainly for Cori Gauff.
8:20pm:
Another five-setter comes to an end and
Thomas Fabbiano
beats
Gulliver
Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4. Fabbiano continues his run, after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round. Karlovic, at 40, is the oldest man to play singles at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall in 1975.
7:55pm: Simona Halep has taken the first set 6-3 against Buzarnescu and Dayana Yastramenka has won the first set 7-5 against Sofia Kenin.
7:42pm: Daniil Medvedev advances to the third round by beating Alexei Popyrin 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. He will face David Goffin in the next round.
7:37pm: OUSTED! Yulia Putintseva knocked out of Wimbledon. She loses 4-6, 6-7 (3) to Viktorija Golubic.
7:26pm: Yulia Putintseva, who knocked out World No.2 Naomi Osaka in the first round, is fighting for survival in her match against Viktorija Golubic. After losing the first set 6-4, she has fought back with a 6-5 lead in the second.
7:17pm: We have two Romanians doing battle on Court 2. Simona Halep takes on Mihaela Buzarnescu. This is going to be an interesting one.
And on Court 1, one Next Gen represent, Karen Khachanov, takes on a veteran, Feliciano Lopez who won the doubles title at Queen's with Andy Murray last month.
How is he still here? “I was taking care of my body. I was professional. I was trying to extend my career as much as I could, and I'm here... I'm so happy.”
READ | Evergreen Lopez faces Khachanov test in Wimbledon second round
7:03pm: Annett Kontaveit is through to the third round, beating home favourite Heather Watson 7-5, 6-1.
David Goffin is also through, quite easily we might add. He beats Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
6:56pm: Three match points to Opelka! Wawrinka manages to save one, but the 21-year-old American wins it!
Reilly Opelka beats Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 4-6, 8-6 and is into the third round. A best Grand Slam result for Opelka. 3 hours 13 minutes it took.
6:51pm: Oh hold on! Wawrinka with a break point. But it's saved! For the first time, the new final set format at Wimbledon could be followed. The match will go into a tie-break at 10-10, if it gets that far. 7-6 to Opelka. Wawrinka to serve.
6:49pm: The Wawrinka-Opelka match is past the three-hour mark now. And it's 6-6 in the final set. Simona Halep and Mihaela Buzarnescu can stretch a bit. This isn't going to end soon.
6:43pm: Jiri Vesely is through! He beast Pablo Cuevas 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
6:41pm: Karolina Pliskova eventually pulls through. Monica Puig put up a fight in the second set winning a break point and threatening to level the set 5-5, but Pliskova breaks to win 6-0, 6-4.
6:37pm: Pablo Cuevas saves a match point and stays alive in the match against Jiri Vesely. Vesely, who ousted Alexander Zverev in the first round, now leads 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 5-4 and is serving for the set.
6:28pm: The Wimbledon Twitter handle just won't let the excitement around Kyrgios vs Nadal die out.
6:19pm: Wawrinka saved two break points in the previous game to level the final set 1-1. Now it's Opelka turn. He saves a break point to hold serve. This one's probably going the distance.
6:04pm: The Wawrinka-Opelka match is going to a decider! Reilly Opelka fights back to win the fourth set 6-4 after fighting off some break points early in the set.
6:00pm: BREAKING: Serena Williams and Andy Murray's mixed doubles opponents have been confirmed. They'll be facing Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarachi.
Found this on Twitter. Side-by-side today, on opposite ends tomorrow. Nadal vs Kyrgios has all the feels of a final.
5:57pm: Karolina Pliskova, one of the favourites here after her Eastbourne triumph, has cruised through her first set against Puig. She leads 6-0.
On Court 1, Britain's Heather Watson leads 3-2 after going up a break against 20th seed Anett Kontaveit. Watson won the mixed doubles title here in 2016.
5:47pm: Action has begun on the main show courts. On Centre court, Karolina Pliskova leads 3-0 against Monica Puig.
5:32pm: Oh no! Gasparyan has retired. It seems to be a muscular problem and she tried to carry on with it but she can't anymore. Unfortunate. She was having such a great match, winning the first set and almost the second before the injury. Elina Svitolina is through to the next round 5-7, 6-5.
5:29pm: Benoit Paire is through to the next round as Kecmanovic retires. Not sure what the exact reason is, but Paire was leading 7-6, 6-4.
5:28pm: Svitolina breaks and she's serving for the set.
5:24pm: Margarita Gasparyan gets some medical attention on court. She's clutching her left knee, the same knee she's had three surgeries on. It would be such a shame if such a good contest comes to an end here. She's been great today.
5:18pm: Elina Svitolina was serving to stay in the match after losing the first set 7-5. Margarita Gasparyan gave her a scare when she saved two game points, but Svitolina holds on. It's 5-5 in the second set. The WTA Finals champion is still hanging on by a fine thread.
5:09pm: Hsieh Su-Wei beats Kirsten Fllipkens 7-6 (3), 6-3 and is into the third round.
5:02pm: Maria Sakkari is also through to the third round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Marie Bouzkova.
4:52pm: It's a feebler scream this time as Wawrinka wins the second set 6-3 and pulls the match back level.
4:46pm: Former world no.1 Victoria Azarenka is through to the third round with an easy 6-2, 6-0 win against Tomljanovic. The farthest she has gone at Wimbledon is the semifinals in 2011 and 2012 when she was on top of her game. The Belaruisan could face Simona Halep in the next round, and it won't be an easy won for the Romanian.
4:35pm: Opelka with a chance to break back but Wawrinka comes up with an incredible fightback! A sweet forehand and then an ace to win save two break points. He goes on to consolidate the break and leads 4-1 in the second set.
Of sweet slices and sweet gestures
4:32pm: Opelka hits the the net on a return and Stan Wawrinka lets out a wild scream as he goes a break up in the second set. He leads 3-1.
4:22pm: Svitolina has broken back to level the set at 5-5. Great fightback from the Ukranian. Meanwhile, the 6 ft 11 in giant, Reilly Opelka, is showing off his finesse with incredible drop shots that kill the ball on contact with the ground. 1-1 in the second set.
4:17pm: Opelka takes the first set 7-5. He broke Wawrinka to go 6-5 up and held serve to get the early advantage on court 2.
Yep, don't go anywhere.
4:13pm: Svitolina has been broken! Gasparyan is serving for the first set.
4:09pm: The first set of the day goes to Victoria Azarenka. She wins the first set 6-2 against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
Meanwhile, it's all tight in the men's section. Wawrinka and Opelka are 5-5 in the first set and Benoit Paire is enduring a tough early fight from Serb Miomir Kecmanovic. Paire leads 6-5 in the first set.
3:50pm: On Court 2, Stan Wawrinka gets his match against Reilly Opelka underway. Should be an intruiging contest. And on Court 3 is Elina Svitolina against Margarita Gasparyan.
Some pre-game reading:
15-year-old Cori Gauff made headlines, first when she became the youngest-ever Wimbledon qualifier and then on Monday, when she went on to beat one of her idols , the 39-year-old Venus Williams, in the first round. She's in action today on Court 2 against Magdalena Rybarikova.
There's going to a spike in interest in mixed doubles as the Andy Murray-Serena Williams partnership has been confirmed.
Walk this way: Wimbledon path is tournament’s lifeblood
A 22-year-old South African gave Federer a slight scare in their first round match yesterday. Lloyd Harris, who said he had goosebumps when he walked onto the court to face his idol, won the first set 6-3. He went on to lose it in four sets but boy, will he remember that moment!
Bernard Tomic put up another terrible display at Wimbledon yesterday, losing in 58 minutes to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He, however, denied that he had 'tanked' the match . You wouldn't be surprised he was asked that question. After all, he had admitted to being "bored" in an opening-round loss to Mischa Zverev in the grass-court major two years ago.
Maria Sharapova's tryst with injuries don't seem to end. She retired from her first round match against Pauline Parmentier while trailing 5-0 in the final set. A forearm injury, it seems. She had just returned from another injury that had kept her out for most of this year.
Wednesday's order of play
Order of play on the main show courts on the third day of the Wimbledon championships on Tuesday:
CENTRE COURT, From 12:00 GMT Monica PUIG vs Karolina PLISKOVA Kyle EDMUND vs Fernando VERDASCO Novak DJOKOVIC vs Denis KUDLA
No.1 COURT, From 12:00 GMT) Heather WATSON vs Anett KONTAVEIT Karen KHACHANOV vs Feliciano LOPEZ Caroline WOZNIACKI vs Veronika KUDERMETOVA
No.2 COURT, From 10:00 GMT) Stan WAWRINKA vs Reilly OPELKA Simona HALEP vs Mihaela BUZARNESCU Kevin ANDERSON vs Janko TIPSAREVIC Cori GAUFF vs Magdalena RYBARIKOVA
No.3 COURT, From 10:00 GMT) Elina SVITOLINA vs Margarita GASPARYAN Robin HAASE vs Milos RAONIC Felix AUGER-ALIASSIME vs Corentin MOUTET Madison KEYS vs Polona HERCOG |
Preview
We're into second round action already. Few of the big guns we thought would be playing today stumbled in the first round on Day 1.
READ | Osaka, Zverev, Tsitsipas: Next-Gen flounder on Wimbledon day one
Day 2 had its fair share of upsets as well. The biggest among them was Dominic Thiem, who reached the final of French Open last month, going down against Sam Querrey .
The likes of Roger Federer, Ashleigh Barty and Angelique Kerber had a smooth sail into the next round.
REPORT | Federer into Wimbledon second round for 17th successive year
REPORT | Ashleigh Barty up and running as world number one
READ | Champion Kerber makes winning start at Wimbledon
Also, it's Nadal vs Kyrgios in the second round! Rafael Nadal made easy work of Sugita, beating him 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. Speaking of Kyrgios, Wimbledon likes its bad boys .
On Nick Kyrgios match-up and all the talk around it: "I'm too old for all this stuff now. Too many years on the tour. What they say, they say it. I'm not a guy that's going to be in a fight with nobody and I'm here to enjoy my sport and keep doing the thing I love as much as possible."
He hopes the match is on centre court. Us too, Rafa. Us too.