Elena Rybakina entered the third round of Wimbledon on Thursday. Playing against Alize Cornet, the third seed came through 6-2, 7-6(2) in an hour and 48 minutes.In 2022, the then 37th-ranked Cornet had put an end to world no.
1 Iga Swiatek’s 37-match victory streak in the third round. As such, this second-round match between her and Rybakina was seen as a potential upset. However, Rybakina raced through the first set to put an end to that possibility.The Kazakh did, however, encounter serious problems in the second set.
Neither player conceded her serve in the second set. But with Rybakina serving in the 11th game, she went down 0-40. She did well to save all three and bring the score back to deuce. But the game didn’t end quite swiftly after that.
Rybakina needed to save two further break points and needed 10 game points to bring an end to the game that had 12 deuces. Cornet did hold on to her serve in the 12th game to push the set into the tie-break. Rybakina raced through the tie-break, eventually.
Wimbledon: No problems to problem-solve for Elena Rybakina
The most telling stat of the match was Rybakina saving all six break points she faced.
All six break points came in the second set, with five coming in that one game alone. The 24-year-old converted two of five break points on Cornet’s serve, in the first set. The defending Championships’ champion finished with 36 winners and 40 unforced errors to the Frenchwoman’s seven winners and 12 unforced errors.In the third round, Rybakina will play Katie Boulter.
The Briton defeated Viktoriya Tomova 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. This is the first time in her career that Boulter’s entered the third round at Wimbledon, or any other Major for that matter.Fourth seed Jessica Pegula also advanced to the third round.
The American posted a straightforward 6-1, 6-4 win over Cristina Bucsa. The match lasted just three minutes past the hour.Meanwhile, among notable first-round results at Wimbledon on Thursday was Jule Niemeier’s. The German upset 2023 French Open runner-up and 16th seed, Karolina Muchova
Niemeier won 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
