Sabalenka claims tricky win to maintain title pursuit

Aryna Sabalenka, the reigning world number one, defeated Czechoss Marie Bouzkova to continue her quest for her maiden Wimbledon title.

With a gritty 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory over the world number 48, Sabalenka avoided the same fate after a record-breaking number of seeds fell in the opening two days – eight top-10 players overall in both the men’s and women’s singles draws.

The Belarusian hopes to add Venus Rosewater Dish to her three previous Grand Slam victories, including those from the US and Australian Open.

If British No. 1 Marketa Vondrousova, who is currently the No. 1, defeats her on Wednesday in round three, she might face Emma Raducanu.

Olga Danilovic of Serbia and Keys both won comfortably in the third round, beating them 6-4, 6-2, respectively.

On a gloomy morning that nearly two hours later, handheld fans were replaced by umbrellas at SW19, which greatly reduced play on the outside courts.

But just in time for Sabalenka’s round two match when the sun started to set in, the roof on Centre Court was off.

The three-time major winner struggled to find consistency in the opening set and was inconsistent in her play in crucial situations.

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

But when she double-failed to give Bouzkova the lead at 5-5, she was unable to create a break point in the first set and instead went down a break while eye rolling and shouting in frustration at times.

A Wimbledon crowd who was desperate to support the Czech underdog greeted that with a lot of cheer, but Sabalenka let out a huge roar as she pushed the tie-break deep into the match.

In the fifth game, she increased the aggression and executed each of her signature powerful groundstrokes with a loud grunt before a more straightforward second set.

Although Sabalenka is undoubtedly well-liked at Wimbledon, potential third-round matches against Briton Raducanu could put them to her.