Wimbledon: Canada’s Zhao advances to third round

LONDON –

Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ontario, moved one step closer to qualifying for the first Grand Slam main draw of her career with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 second round victory over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands in Wimbledon qualifying on Wednesday.

Zhao was accurate on 80 percent of her first serves and won 67 percent of the available points. She was also effective on the second serve, winning 75 percent of those points.

The Canadian broke Russian, number 2 in the qualifying tournament, four times out of eight chances.

Zhao will face American veteran CoCo Vandeweghe on Thursday for a place in the main draw of the grass court Grand Slam.

She will be the only Canadian to play for a main draw on Thursday. Toronto’s Katherine Sebov lost 6-0, 6-3 to Czech Republic’s Brenda Fruhvirtova in the second round of women’s qualifying, while Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Italy’s Matteo Gigante in the second round of the men’s tournament.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 28, 2023.