Sabalenka puts upsets out of mind to advance

World number one Aryna Sabalenka put this year’s record number of Wimbledon upsets out of her mind in a hard-fought victory over Marie Bouzkova.

Eight top-10 seeds across the men’s and women’s singles draws went out across the opening two days – the most at a Grand Slam in the Open era – but Sabalenka avoided that same fate with a gritty 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win over the world number 48.

The Belarusian is aiming to add a maiden Wimbledon title to her three other Grand Slam triumphs at the US and Australian Opens.

After her win, the top seed told the Centre Court crowd: “I hope it is no upsets anymore in this tournament, if you know what I mean”!

“Honestly, it is sad to see so many upsets in the tournament in both draws”, she added.

“I’m just trying to take it one step at a time. I know if I’m focused, if I’m there, if I’m fighting, I know I’m going to have my chance in each match.

” I think it’s really important to focus on yourself and to take it one step at a time – do not really look at the draw.

Sabalenka could face Emma Raducanu in round three, should the British number one overcome 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova later on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, American Keys breezed into the third round with a comfortable 6-4 6-2 win over Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.

If the sixth seed and Sabalenka continue to progress they could meet in the quarter-finals in a repeat of their Melbourne final.

After a scorching couple of days at SW19, handheld fans were replaced by umbrellas on a drizzly morning which delayed play on the outside courts by almost two hours.

But the roof was off on Centre Court in time for Sabalenka’s round two match with the sun beginning to peep through.

The three-time major winner made tough work of the opening set, struggling to find consistency and, while not playing badly, she was not clinical in crucial moments.

Having watched three of the top five seeds fall on day two, including French Open champion Gauff, Sabalenka would have welcomed a draw that was beginning to open up.

But eye rolling and shouting in frustration at times, she could not conjure a break point in the first set and instead went down a break when she double faulted at 5-5 to hand Bouzkova the lead.

That was met with a big cheer from a Wimbledon crowd desperate to back the Czech underdog, but they were equally as animated when Sabalenka let out a huge roar as she dug deep to force the tie-break.

A more straightforward second set followed as she secured the break in the fifth game, ramping up the aggression and executing each of her signature powerful groundstrokes with a loud grunt.

Sabalenka is clearly well-liked among the Wimbledon fans but a potential third-round meeting against Briton Raducanu may, for once, put them against her.