Alex de Minaur, Daria Kasatkina through to second round as big guns crash out of Wimbledon

Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina are through to the second round on a day of drama at Wimbledon, where there were high-profile casualties in the men’s and women’s draw.

Alex de Minaur is through to Wimbledon second round after defeating Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets.

De Minaur was forced to work for the first set, before cruising through the second and powering home.

The 11th-seed, de Minaur earned six set points before finally closing out the opening set 6-2 in 46 minutes.

Alex De Minaur is in action on day two.

He hit 13 winners to his opponent’s seven, but Baena didn’t go down without a fight.

De Minaur claimed the second set 6-2 before wrapping it up 7-6 (7-2) in the third.

Fellow Aussie Aleksander Vukic also won through to the second round after beating Chun-Hsin Tseng 4 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), while Rinky Hijikata beat David Goffin 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, but James McCabe and Adam Walton were both sent packing.

Daria Kasatkina, the 16th seed, is the sole Australian woman to reach the second round after being Emiliana Aranga 7-5 6-3 in 1hr 38min

Daria Kasatkina takes on Emiliana Arango in the first round.

BIG GUNS CRASH OUT IN WIMBLEDON STUNNER

Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova battled back from a set down to win her Wimbledon opener as men’s top seed Jannik Sinner barely broke sweat in the searing London heat.

There were high-profile casualties on day two at the All England Club as men’s third seed Alexander Zverev and women’s third seed Jessica Pegula crashed out of the grass-court Grand Slam.

Novak Djokovic was kept waiting until the evening to make his return to Centre Court as he targets a record 25th major.

Krejcikova came to Wimbledon with just six matches under her belt this year and was in grave danger after being outplayed by Philippines star Alexandra Eala in the first set.

But the two-time Grand Slam champion regrouped, cut her error count drastically and lost just three more games as she completed a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

Men’s world number one Sinner brushed aside fellow Italian Luca Nardi on Court One with the minimum of fuss.

Unfazed by the scorching conditions, the three-time Grand Slam champion sealed a 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 win in just one hour and 48 minutes.

Former US Open runner-up Pegula suffered a shock defeat against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, losing 6-2, 6-3 in just 58 minutes.

Jessica Pegula suffered a straight sets loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Picture: AFP

Pegula was followed out of the tournament by Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, the Chinese fifth seed a surprise 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 loser against world number 81 Katerina Siniakova.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek swatted aside Russia’s Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1 and second seed Coco Gauff, fresh from her French Open triumph, prepared to take on Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, handed a wildcard to compete, lost 6-3, 6-1 in an emotional farewell appearance against US 10th seed Emma Navarro.

In the men’s draw, Zverev suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2019, dumped out by France’s Arthur Rinderknech after a five-set marathon in a match that started on Monday evening.

Fifth seed Taylor Fritz completed a five-set win against France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a match that also started on day one.

British fourth seed Jack Draper progressed when Argentina’s Sebastian Baez retired with the score at 6-2, 6-2, 2-1

Originally published as Alex de Minaur, Daria Kasatkina through to second round as big guns crash out of Wimbledon