Wimbledon 2021: Ash Barty struggles but wins, Nick Kyrgios cruises through, underdogs salute
Nick Kyrgios got fired up on the way to victory and Ash Barty has her best shot at a Wimbledon title – but it was a group of Aussie underdogs that stole the show. Full wrap.
Tennis
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tennis. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Ashleigh Barty was rusty but found a way to win, Nick Kyrgios continued to be annoyed at the Wimbledon surface on his way to victory, and some Aussie underdogs showed there’s plenty of hope outside the big two of an Australian victory.
Ajla Tomljanovic, James Duckworth and Jordan Thompson all find themselves in the third round after downing more fancied opponents overnight.
Read the full wrap of the action here.
Carnage gives rusty Barty hope
Ashleigh Barty’s odds of winning Wimbledon have increased, with only three of the women’s top ten still in the Championship – but the Queenslander will have to pick up her game after scrapping through to the third round with an error-riddled win on centre court overnight.
Barty’s title aspirations were helped when number three seed Elina Svitolina became the sixth top 10-seeded woman to be eliminated in the first two rounds at Wimbledon.
With Serena Williams and Simona Halep injured, Naomi Osaka withdrawn for personal reasons, and Bianca Andreescu and Sofia Kenin suffering early round losses, Barty is now in the box seat.
Alongside Barty, the only surviving top 10 players are Arnya Sabalenka, of Belarus, and Polish 20-year-old Iga Swiatek.
A hard-fought win for the world No.1...@ashbarty overcomes Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-3 on Centre Court#Wimbledonpic.twitter.com/J8HaygDatc
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2021
“I’m exactly where I am, and that’s all I can ask,” Barty said.
“I feel good. Like, I feel like it’s certainly nice now to have another opportunity here in the third round here at Wimbledon.”
When asked if this was a golden opportunity, Barty replied: “That’s an impossible question to answer … that’s not something that I can control. I think speculating now is a waste of time. It’s certainly not something that I’m going to do, is be looking at the draw. I never have, I never will. It’s a waste of time thinking about it.’’
But Barty, 25, will be revisiting her sluggish start and repeated serving difficulties – including a memorable five faults in a row – in her 6-4, 6-3 centre court win over unseeded Russian Anna Blinkova.
There is nothing worse than the collective sigh of a big crowd, that delicate murmuring of “oh dear, that wasn’t too good”.
And there were plenty of those lacklustre moments, especially in the first set in which Barty’s attempts at backhand slices went straight into the net or when she hit her trusty forehand too deep.
Barty’s constant service faults gifted Blinkova many opportunities – and also sapped the energy from the crowd. There was concern that Barty’s troubles may be linked to an earlier injury, but she rejected that suggestion, saying her hip “was fine” and “it was just not a great serving day”.
“So certainly, it is not something I’m going to blow out of proportion.”
The Queenslander will take some comfort from the speed of her serve – sometimes in excess of 160kmh – and her ability to stay focused and not dissolve in frustration.
Barty was lucky in drawing 89th-ranked Blinkova, a chess master who is fluent in six languages. The Russian strategically hit the ball straight back to the Australian and let the world number one make the errors.
The statistics show just how mistake-riddled the match was. In the first set, Barty had seven double faults and only got her first serve in less than half the time. In the first set she recorded 27 unforced errors, in the second it was 15 unforced errors.
Barty will now play Katerina Siniakova, the big serving Czech, who was most recently a finalist at Bad Homburg. If successful in that match, Barty will take on the winner of the match between Barbara Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Anastasija Sevastiova of Latvia.
Kyrgios through despite court blow up
Nick Kyrgios is into the third round at Wimbledon after beating Gianluca Mager 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-4 on Friday morning.
The Aussie had a much easier time getting past the Italian than he did overcoming 21st seed Ugo Humbert in the first round, after their clash went for five sets across two days because of Wimbledon’s curfew rule.
Kyrgios was up to his usual tricks on Court 3. Before match point against Mager he wandered over to the stands and asked a fan where he should serve, the woman leaning over and whispering into his ear.
Nick Kyrgios asking a fan where he should serve on match point. Just delightful. 📠pic.twitter.com/nB4JNkduVI
— â amy o'connor â (@amyohconnor) July 1, 2021
He won the point easily, pointing to the spectator in gratitude after wrapping up the comfortable straight sets victory.
It’s the fifth time in his career Kyrgios has reached the third round at Wimbledon, sending down 29 aces and whipping out 48 winners in a dominant performance that included just 11 unforced errors.
However, there were still times when the 26-year-old lost his temper, once again raging at the quality of the surface. Midway through his match against Humbert, Kyrgios complained the grass court was too slow and he was back at it again on Friday morning.
“It’s not even real grass!” he yelled to the crowd at 5-5 in the first set. “I don’t know if you know this, but on grass it’s supposed to slide away.
“Now it just pops up, it’s ridiculous.
“Make it real grass! Jesus.”
Speaking to the umpire, Kyrgios added: “I feel like I’m playing at Roland Garros. It’s an absolute joke.”
Kyrgios also argued with the umpire after being called for a foot fault, but kept his cool to close out the match in an hour and 50 minutes.
Aussie underdogs fire up
While Australian hopes will be pinned on Barty and Kyrgios to break our Wimbledon drought, three other Australians showed they have what it takes to go deep in the tournament.
Ajla Tomljanovic, James Duckworth and Jordan Thompson all came up against higher ranked opponents and all managed to grind out gutsy victories on their way to the third round.
Tomljanovic – ranked No.75 in the world – came back after an awful second set against Frenchwoman Alize Cornet (No.58) to win 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 and book match up against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
Duckworth (No.91) was just as gutsy in his match, taking down the 54th ranked American Sam Querrey in four sets 7-5, 7-6, 6-3, 6-2, setting up a showdown with Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
And Sydney-sider Jordan Thompson (No.78) held his nerve against Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori (No.53) to win 7-5, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, and will back his chances against Belarusian opponent Ilya Ivashka in the third round.
In other Australian matches, Marc Polmans fought hard against Chilean opponent Cristian Garin but fell in four sets 7-6, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, while Alex Bolt was sent out in straight sets against Englishman Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
Originally published as Wimbledon 2021: Ash Barty struggles but wins, Nick Kyrgios cruises through, underdogs salute
World-famous singer makes pro tennis debut
He once vowed to never stop party rocking but it appears he hasn’t listened to his own advice, as the iconic singer made his professional tennis debut, aged 49.
Shock, tears as ex-world No. 1 retires on spot
A much-loved tennis champ’s career has ended in sad scenes when she grabbed a microphone on court and left spectators in tears.