London | Aryna Sabalenka was just two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round Wimbledon match three times on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) before asserting herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova to avoid the sort of surprise that has sent a group of seeded players home.
Four of the top 10 women’s seeds failed to make it out of the first round: No.2 Coco Gauff, No.3 Jessica Pegula, No.5 Zheng Qinwen and No.9 Paula Badosa. In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players – 10 women, 13 men – were gone by the end of day two, equalling the most at any grand slam event in the past 25 years.
