Photograph: Getty Images
Australia’s top-ranked players Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic led the charge for the Aussies in the second round of singles action at The Championships while Nick Kyrgios made a serious statement.
After coming through the first round relatively unscathed, de Minaur found himself locked in a tight battle with Britain’s most exciting young prospect, Jack Draper.
Despite a slow start, de Minaur rallied to fight back from a set down to advance to the third round following a 5-7, 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-3 victory in just over three hours. The Aussie produced a solid game on serve, winning 79% of points on his first serve to go with 14 aces and 36 winners for the match.
De Minaur was relieved to make it through the tricky encounter and into the third round.
“No, look, I’m extremely stoked to get this win. It was a battle out there today. Jack’s a hell of a competitor, hell of a talent and he’s got a very bright future ahead of him,” de Minaur said.
“I think my attitude pleased me the most. It didn’t look too good out there at times but I stayed tough, I stayed positive, I kept it together and managed to play some great tennis throughout the whole three hours and ended up getting the win. So extremely stoked.”
His next opponent is British wildcard Liam Broady who overcame 12th seed Diego Schwartzman in five epic sets.
Earlier in the day, Nick Kyrgios sent a warning shot across the entire men’s draw after dismantling 26th seed Filip Krajinovic.
Kyrgios looked like a man on a mission with a serious point to prove, dominating the match to win 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and 25 minutes. The Aussie produced a serving masterclass, winning 37/40 points on his first serve to go with 24 aces.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of his performance was that he didn’t drop a single point on serve for the whole first set.
Kyrgios also hit a mammoth 50 winners while keeping his unforced errors to just 10, making a big statement in his favourite tournament.
“I’m just happy. I’ve been working hard. I’ve been preparing for this tournament. It’s been circled on my calendar pretty much all year and I’m so excited to be here again,” Kyrgios said.
“I think it’s my best chance to win a Grand Slam of the four.
“I’ll just take it match by match. I’ve obviously got an incredibly tough draw still, but today I couldn’t have played better.”
Next up, he faces 4th seed Stefanos Tsitipas in a mouthwatering encounter. The pair faced off in Halle just over two weeks ago, with Kyrgios coming out on top in three sets.
On the women’s side of things, Aussie No. 1 Ajla Tomljanovic put in a blistering performance to defeat American Catherine Harrison 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 26 minutes.
Tomljanovic produced a solid all-around game, winning 83% of points on her first serve and 55% of points when receiving to go with 15 winners for the match.
The win sees her into the third round at Wimbledon for the second time in her career and sets up a clash with 13th seed Barbora Krejcikova.
The only other Aussie in singles action on Day 4 was Jordan Thompson, who was outclassed by Tsitsipas 2-6, 3-6, 5-7 in just over two hours on court.
On Day 3, Thanasi Kokkinakis came up against a rampant Novak Djokovic on Centre Court and dealt a harsh loss 1-6, 4-6, 2-6.
There is still one Aussie yet to play his second-round match and that is Jason Kubler, who was due to play Austrian Denis Novak last night but the match was postponed to Day 5.
With the singles progressing into the third round, the doubles have gotten underway with varying success for the Aussies.
On Day 3, John-Patrick Smith teamed up with Spaniard Pedro Martinez to overcome Andrey Golubev and Denys Molchanov 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes.
Also securing victory on Day 3 was Jordan Thompson and Portugal’s Joao Sousa who defeated fellow Aussie Luke Saville and Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop 2-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3 in an epic three-hour encounter.
It wasn’t to be for James Duckworth and American Marcos Giron who fell to Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 3-6, 7-6(10),1-6, 2-6 while Daria Saville and Ajla Tomljanovic also crashed out in a 3-6, 3-6 defeat to Arantxa Rus and Viktoria Kuzmova.
On Day 4, Australian Open finalists Max Purcell and Matt Ebden fought back from two sets down to defeat Japan’s Ben McLachlan and Swede Andre Goransson 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(8) in three hours and 37 minutes.
Also tasting victory on Day 4 were 10th seeds Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez who defeated Panna Udvardy and Kaitlyn Christian 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and seven minutes.
Astra Sharma’s Wimbledon campaign came to an end on Day 4, going down with partner Ulrikke Eikeri to Coco Vandeweghe and Alison Riske 6-0, 4-6, 4-6 while Aussie Monique Adamczak and Katarzyna Kawa fell to 7th seeds Alexa Guarachi and Andreja Klepac 3-6, 4-6.
Finally, Sam Stosur and Taiwan’s Latisha Chan made a first-round exit after losing 6-7(4), 1-6 to Aliona Bolsova and Ingrid Neel.
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