Andreescu survives Kalinina and reaches the 3rd round at Wimbledon for the 1st time

Canada’s Bianca Andreescu and Denis Shapovalov secured hard-fought singles victories on Friday to advance to Wimbledon.

Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., outlasted 26th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7) in a second round game with several momentum swings.

Later in the day, Shapovalov dropped the opening set to British wildcard entry Liam Broady before recovering for a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 victory.

The Canadian had a 14-1 lead in aces. He had a total of 50 winners, while Broady only managed 18.

Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ontario will face Roman Safiullin in the fourth round. The 92nd ranked Russian defeated Guido Pella of Argentina 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-0.

Andreescu, meanwhile, looked like she was heading for a routine victory after winning the first set and going into a break early in the second.

However, Kalinina later broke back to even the second set at 4-4, taking another break in the deciding game to tie the match.

The Ukrainian had a break and a lead to go up 5-2 in the third set, but Andreescu stormed back to force a tiebreak.

Andreescu raced out to a 9-3 lead, but Kalinina saved four match points before the Canadian finally triumphed.

Andreescu next takes on sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur from Tunisia, who defeated Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan 6-1, 6-1 in just 45 minutes.

Also on Friday, the sixth-seeded women’s doubles team of Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and American Taylor Townsend opened with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Alycia Parks and Peyton Stearns of the United States.

LOOK | Andreescu turns Kalinina upside down:

Alcaraz, Sabalenka, Tsitsipas continue

Meanwhile, top-ranked male Carlos Alcaraz and second-ranked female Aryna Sabalenka both won. Second-seeded Novak Djokovic will appear in court later Friday.

Alcaraz, a 20-year-old Spaniard who is regarded as the next tennis great, advanced to the third round for the second year in a row, defeating Alexandre Muller 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-3 on Center Court.

The 2022 US Open champion is making only his third appearance with the All England Club. He reached the fourth round last year for his best performance on the grass court Grand Slam.

Sabalenka reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2021, but was banned from the tournament along with other Belarusian and Russian players last year due to the war in Ukraine. She trailed 5–4 in the second set, but dropped just three points in winning the next three games.

The No. 1 female, Iga Swiatek, reached the fourth round – she’s never progressed at the All England Club – as did No. 4 Jessica Pegula.

Later on Friday, seven-time champion Djokovic would face Stan Wawrinka for a fourth-round spot.

Also, Stefanos Tsitsipas knocked out two-time champion Andy Murray 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a second round match that went over 4 – ½ hour over two days on Center Court.

Murray was roused by most of the 15,000 or so spectators, all convinced that his 2013 title at the All England Club was the first for a British man in 77 years. Murray also won Wimbledon in 2016, along with the 2012 US Open and two Olympic gold medals.

He is now 36, with an artificial hip after two operations on that joint. Murray was unable to hold onto the two sets to one lead he had built against Tsitsipas before play was interrupted on Thursday night as it became too late to play.

It was a tough day for the local fans as the highest ranked British man, No. 12 Cam Norrie, was defeated by American Chris Eubanks 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3). to Broady’s loss to Shapovalov.

Kvitova, Kostyuk, Keys ahead

Earlier, Petra Kvitova reached the third round for the second year in a row, nine years after winning the second of her two titles at the All England Club. The 33-year-old Czech, who was injured in a knife attack at her home in 2016, defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-2 on Day 5 of the Grand Slam tournament on grass.

Left-hander Kvitova first won the Wimbledon title in 2011 and added another title in 2014. She has reached only one more Grand Slam final, losing to Naomi Osaka in the deciding match at the 2019 Australian Open.

Madison Keys, an American who won the Eastbourne International title on grass for Wimbledon, also reached the third round. The 25th-seeded Keys defeated Viktorija Golubic 7-5, 6-3.

Keys next takes on the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. She advanced when Paula Badosa pulled out of their match with a back injury and Kostyuk led 6-2, 1-0.

Also in the second round, third seeded Daniil Medvedev advanced by beating Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(5), sixth seeded Holger Rune defeated Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7 -6(3) , 6-4, 8th seed Jannik Sinner knocked out Quentin Halys 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, and 19th seed Alexander Zverev defeated Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.