Jordan Thompson wins second straight five-set match at Wimbledon

A career first could be on the cards for Jordan Thompson at Wimbledon as he continued to defy his battered body in another win.

Jordan Thompson may be taking a break when he leaves Wimbledon to nurse his battered body back into shape but it could be a while before that happens after the Australian recorded another comeback five-set win.

Entering the tournament with a brace for his back, Thompson came from two sets to one down to beat Benjamin Bonzi 7-5 6-7(2-7) 4-6 6-2 6-4 in just under four hours to become the first Australian into the third round.

Thompson was inside the world’s top 30 before an injury-hit season dropped him to 44 and cast doubt on how deep he could go in London.

Jordan Thompson is into the third round at Wimbledon. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images

But after a stirring opening round victory, Thompson, with Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt watching on again, defied even his own expectations to set up a third round clash with either Luciano Darderi, ranked 59, or Arthur Fery, the lowly ranked Englishman who upset Alexei Popyrin in the first round.

“Everyone the whole week has just told me to show some ticker, so I just pointed to it and said, that’s some f***ing ticker,” Thompson said after his stirring win.

“There’s movements I can’t do, but the competitive juices are keeping me going. It’s not just the back, it’s everything. I’m super stiff. I’m not practising.

“It’s hard not to see it as a pretty big opportunity at this stage of a slam.

“There’s no beating around the bush. It could be a lot worse. I just wish my body was in a different circumstance.”

Frenchman Bonzi took down last year’s semi-finalist Daniil Medvedev in the first round and showed that quality again as he pushed Thompson to the limit.

But the gritty Australian showed he’s always up for a fight, no matter the state of his body, and after losing the second and third sets took the fourth and then the fifth to put him on the verge of making the fourth round for the first time.

Thompson is one of only a handful of the 17 Australians who started the tournament still alive.

Originally published as Jordan Thompson wins second straight five-set match at Wimbledon