LONDON: Coco Gauff managed to shrug off her Wimbledon gremlins in the nick of time to avoid another early exit on Wednesday after men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner and women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka eased into the third round.
American Gauff once again looked vulnerable on the grass but dug in to beat Solana Sierra 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-7).
Seventh seed Gauff looked on the brink of a third first-round loss at Wimbledon in four years as Argentina’s Sierra served for the match at 5-4 in the third set.
But Gauff channelled the warrior spirit of Williams to drag herself back and, after producing a moment of magic at 7-7 in the tiebreak, she sealed victory with an ace to set up a third-round clash with fellow American Claire Liu.
A clutch of European Ryder Cup winners watched from the Royal Box on Centre Court as top seed Sinner took on Portugal’s Nuno Borges and after the hazards the Italian faced in his five-set win over Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in his opener, the 24-year-old kept it straight down the middle to reach round three.
World number 48 Borges had a set point in the second set, but Sinner was relatively untroubled as he raised his game at the pivotal moments for a 7-6(4), 7-6(2) 6-4 victory.
Sabalenka, bidding for her first Wimbledon title, was cruising against American McCartney Kessler but had to fight back from 5-2 down in the second set to win 6-1, 7-6(9).
Kessler had two set points at 5-3 and another two in the tiebreak but four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka raised the intensity levels to set up a third-round firefight against big-hitting Latvian Jelena Ostapenko who routed Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic 6-2, 6-0.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka swapped her first-round “Kill Bill” kimono for a more toned down outfit for her second-round clash against Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova but dazzled with her tennis as she won 6-3, 6-2.
Several other women’s seeds progressed. Tenth seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic comfortably beat China’s Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-2 to set up a third-round against Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew who impressed in her 7-5, 6-0 win against American Alycia Parks.
American teenager Iva Jovic, seeded 16th, easily solved the puzzle that is 38-year-old Tatjana Maria, beating the wily German slice-merchant 6-1, 6-2.
In other matches of the men’s draw, eighth seed Daniil Medvedev enjoyed a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win against Spain’s Daniel Merida, Brazil’s Joao Fonseca blazed past Dutchman Jesper de Jong 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Qualifier Michael Zheng of the US backed up his opening win against British number one Cameron Norrie with a 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/8), 6-1, 6-4 victory against Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia. He was joined in round three by fellow American Tommy Paul who claimed his second successive straight sets triumph, this time against Kwon Soon-woo, winning 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
In the men’s first round, French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli, seeded nine, beat Mariano Navone 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 7-6 (10/8).
Late on Tuesday, Switzerland’s 41-year-old Stan Wawrinka bid goodbye to fans in his final Wimbledon appearance after a marathon 6-7(7), 7-6(16), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) defeat by Italian Matteo Berrettini in the first round.
Serena’s return fizzles out
Also on Tuesday, Serena Williams showed flashes of brilliance before her much anticipated return to competitive action after a four-year absence fizzled out in a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 defeat to little-known Australian Maya Joint in the first round.
There were high hopes that the 44-year-old would become the oldest woman to win a singles match at the All England Club since Martina Navratilova achieved the feat aged 47 in 2004, but Joint had other ideas.
The 20-year-old Joint, who was not even born when Serena won the first seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, blocked out all the hullabaloo surrounding her opponent’s comeback to produce the most notable victory of her fledgling career.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2026