I’m slowly coming back down to earth after a wonderful day at Wimbledon. There will be a special post coming later tonight about my day at Wimby. I missed so much yesterday. More rain! Ash-Carla! Serena!!! In shock when I found out that Serena had retired 😔. Wednesday was an absolutely manic day of tennis with a mix of first and second round matches. I’ve tried my best to capture the frenzy with accounts of the matches that I watched and highlights of the day. Hopefully things will settle down on Thursday. Read on for Wednesday’s diary from Wimbledon.
Day 3️⃣ Highlights
Alizé Cornet d. (5) Bianca Andreescu, 6-2 6-1 (R1)
An incredible lob on match point pretty much summed up Cornet’s day as she ousted the number five seed. Not a shock. Cornet beat Andreescu in Berlin. I did think Andreescu would turn the tables and I am slightly taken aback by the scoreline. The first set was actually a really fun tussle, lots of fun points. It just didn’t happen for Andreescu. Too many errors, some wild ones, had chances but took very few of them and had a handful of nasty slips and slides on the grass.
Appreciation for Alizé… what a match! She competed magnificently, got so many balls back and played with so much intensity. I didn’t have Cornet down as a grass court queen but I think all of her experience from previous years on the grass helped her out.
(3) Elina Svitolina d. Alison Van Uytvanck, 6-3 2-6 6-3 (R1)
This was a great match. An early test for Svitolina who came through impressively in the third set. Svitolina locked in on return in the third set and served out the match at the second time of asking. This was a great match. A classic Wimbledon watch.
I think that Alison Van Uytvanck has replaced Magdalena Rybarikova as my favourite player to watch on grass. Just gorgeous shotmaking on this surface. AVU ran Svitolina ragged with her drop shots and hit some absolutely gorgeous slice winners. Just dreamy 🥰.
(2) Aryna Sabalenka d. Katie Boulter, 4-6 6-3 6-3 (R2)
Sabalenka-Boulter deservedly landed a spot on the Centre Court schedule but i’m not sure I was expecting it to be the match of the day. Hats off to Boulter who played a fantastic match! The Brit harnessed the energy of the crowd to push Sabalenka all the way. For much of the match, Boulter was going to toe-to-toe with Sabalenka from the baseline.
A big escape from Sabalenka. I think it was her first match on Centre Court (?) and tough up against the crowd. The number two seed was clearly nervous and rattled at times. This could turn out to be a huge win. Bookmark that game with Sabalenka serving at *4-3. A six deuce game with six break points saved by Sabalenka, most of them with huge serves.
A lovely interview with Aryna at the end who tried to get the crowd on side for her next match!
(21) Ons Jabeur d. Venus Williams, 7-5 6-0 (R2)
In the early evening, there were ten women’s second round matches going on at one time. To say I was feeling overwhelmed was an understatement! I went with Jabeur-Venus which i’d circled as my match of the day from the start of play. It didn’t live up to the billing in my head. It was a strange match and never really got going. Venus competed superbly in the first set and Jabeur, who always stayed ahead on serve, was missing a spark. Jabeur said she was very nervous to play Venus in her post-match interview.
Jabeur played a sound service game at *4-5 in the first set and then didn’t lose another game, winning nine in a row. In the end, a very professional performance from Jabeur. A handful of flashy drop shot winners with a couple off the return! This was a tough turnaround for Venus having played a lengthy three setter against Buzarnescu on Tuesday. Jabeur advances to the third round where she will again contest the match of the day, this time against Garbiñe Muguruza. Can’t wait!
Best of the rest 🎾
In the first round, Kaja Juvan scored the biggest win of her career, beating the number nine seed, Belinda Bencic, 6-3 6-3. Juvan has game but i’m surprised at this result with BB’s credentials on grass.
In the first round, Marketa Vondrousova beat the number 24 seed, Anett Kontaveit, 2-6 6-4 6-2. This was a surprising result and bummed me out for a while. I like Anett. Vondrousova locked down in sets two and three as Kontaveit became increasingly error-strewn.
In the second round, Madison Brengle defeated the number four seed, Sofia Kenin, 6-2 6-4. Kenin hit 41 unforced errors in 45 minutes… I have so many questions???!!!
In the second round, Liudmilla Samsonova continued her stunning grass court form and extended her winning streak to nine, beating the number 22 seed, Jessica Pegula, 6-4 3-6 6-3.
In the second round, Irina Camelia-Begu beat the number 26 seed, Petra Martic, 7-5 6-7(7) 6-3. Begu missed match points in the second set but rallied to win in three sets.
In the second round, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano broke new ground at a Slam by defeating the number 32 seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova, 7-5 6-2. A shocking result based on their preferences to grass but I love Osorio Serrano’s spirit.
Best point 🎾
Point of the match in the incredible 4-3 game in the third set of Sabalenka-Boulter.
Hot shot 🔥
The match point from Cornet 👏 .
H&H 🤗
One from yesterday. This was lovely!
Funny moment 🤣
Aww this made me chuckle!
Snap of the day 📸
Love this shot of Elise Mertens who was the first player into the third round.
Recommended media 📺
One I missed from yesterday. After what happened at the French, i’m so, so happy that Carla got the send-off that she deserved. Ash looking almost teary too. What a moment! One of my fave of the year so far.
Day 4 watchlist 📺
I’m hoping to have some time to do some previews from Friday onwards…
(19) Karolina Muchova vs. Camila Giorgi
(31) Daria Kasatkina vs. Jelena Ostapenko
Anastasija Sevastova vs. Marta Kostyuk
Moo's Tennis Blog 
Sevastova has already beaten Kostyuk twice this year but I’m hoping that Marta can turn the tables today.
Also very intrigued with Vandeweghe v Siniakova. While I don’t like her much as a person, I’ve always loved Coco’s game and thought she potentially had a Wimbledon title run in her. She reached the semi’s of Birmingham, could this be the start of something for her?
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I’m with you, Andrew. I’d like to see Marta win that. Vandeweghe-Siniakova could be a cracker! Siniakova has been playing very well since the French. Wondering if their doubles win and also seeing Barbora do so well in singles may have spurred her on?
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Siniakova was playing well leading up to the French too. She’s such a good player when she’s on – I used to think that maybe she had a Slam in her. But when she gets nervous it all gets very messy. It’s nice that they’re both having such a good run at the moment though. They were doubles partners as Juniors too – they won three Slams in one year together!
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Oh wow I didn’t know that! Yeah, I think Siniakova definitely has more to give in singles. Been a pretty rough last year in singles aside from recent results.
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Yeah, Siniakova and Krejcikova won the girls French, Wimbledon and the US Open together. Krejcikova actually almost managed the Grand Slam – she was runner up in Australia (with a different partner) too. She lost to Konjuh.
Speaking of successful juniors, I found the Rybakina – Lui match interesting yesterday. The American was a top ranked junior and actually won the girls Wimbledon title, and yet Rybakina – who only really had modest success as a junior – was the higher ranked player and won quite easily. Funny how some juniors (Swiatek, Gauf, Kostyuk) are able to transition so well, whereas others just don’t manage it.
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I am not sure what to make of Sabalenka. She seems to be struggling to win matches that I expected her to win comfortably but she is gaining in experience of playing on the big courts here whilst other seeds are going out and it will suit her game imho if the courts do dry out and get faster and I think that she has a reasonable draw.
I missed the Alize Cornet match which was a shame as she can often be entertaining. The Carla send off was tremendous and quite moving at times. She looked exhausted after 2 sets which is very understandable.
MOTD for me is Daria Kasatkina vs Jelena Ostapenko so I am looking forward to that. Daria needs to serve better ( especially her 2nd serve which is too weak ) and if she can then she has a chance. Jelena seems to have experienced a personality transplant and is now charming and sporting and not like ‘ the bad girl of tennis ‘ that she used to be a few years ago.
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Kasatkina-Ostapenko should be good. I’m also looking forward to Muchova-Giorgi which is just about to start as I write!
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