
Another seed leaves Wimbledon when Madison Keys is surprised by Laura Siegemund
LONDON — This most unpredictable of Wimbledons delivered yet another surprise Friday when reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the No. 6 seed, was a lopsided loser in the third round, eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund of Germany.
Keys' exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the end of Week 1: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who was scheduled to face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu later in the day.
No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen already were out. The men's field also has seen its share of surprises, including a Wimbledon-record 13 seeds gone in the first round.
'At times, it wasn't the best quality, let's say. But I managed, and in the end, it's just important to find solutions and I did that well. Kept my nerves in the end,' Siegemund said, then added with a laugh: 'There are always nerves. If you don't have nerves in this moment, you're probably dead.'
Wimbledon might be the only Grand Slam event where Keys hasn't reached at least the semifinals, but she has participated in the quarterfinals there twice and is enjoying a breakthrough 2025, including her title at Melbourne Park in January.
Keys' power vs. Siegemund's spins and slices offered quite a contrast in styles, and this outcome was surprisingly one-way traffic on a windy afternoon at No. 2 Court. The key statistic, undoubtedly, was this: Keys made 31 unforced errors, 20 more than Siegemund.
When it ended with one last backhand return from Keys that sailed wide, Siegemund smiled broadly, raised her arms and jumped up and down repeatedly.
'You can't not be happy when you beat a great player like Madison,' Siegemund said.
How unexpected is this for Siegemund? Before this year, her career record at the All England Club was 2-5, and she'd never made it past the second round. Taking into account all four Grand Slam tournaments, she had reached the third round only once in 28 previous appearances, getting to the quarterfinals at the 2020 French Open.
'There is technically no pressure for me,' said Siegemund, at 37 the oldest woman remaining in the tournament. 'I try to remember that I only play for myself. I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore. My boyfriend often tells me that.'
On Sunday, the German faces another unexpected participant at this stage of the grass-court major: 101st-ranked Solana Sierra of Argentina, who lost in qualifying and made it into the main draw when another player withdrew.
What else happened at Wimbledon on Friday?
Ben Shelton played for all of four points and about a minute, wrapping up his second-round match against Rinky Hijikata that was suspended Thursday night. Four-time major title winner Naomi Osaka's Wimbledon ended in the third round for the third time, eliminated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. And No. 13 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. advanced to the fourth round.
Who is scheduled to play at the All England Club on Saturday?
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek will take on Danielle Collins at Centre Court — who could forget their testy exchange at the Paris Olympics? — while No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champ Novak Djokovic also are involved in matches at the main stadium. Two American women will be in action at No. 1 Court: Hailey Baptiste faces No. 7 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, and No. 10 Emma Navarro plays defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
___
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Raducanu frustrated by racket tension problem in Wimbledon loss to Sabalenka
LONDON (AP) — Emma Raducanu expressed frustration with having to get a couple of her rackets re-strung during her third-round loss to top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon on Friday. The British player let leads slip in both sets of her 7-6 (6), 6-4 loss at Centre Court with the retractable roof closed. 'I felt like the ball was flying. I had all my rackets strung up fresh for the match, and it just felt like it was pinging completely different,' Raducanu said. 'It could have been a little bit because the roof was on. I sent a couple rackets to be re-strung. 'But it takes, like, 20 minutes by the time they turn it over. Still, it was a bit difficult. So I'm frustrated with that part maybe, small details. But I don't think I could have made different choices. I think I should have just executed better.' Sabalenka agreed 'the balls were flying more,' she suspected, because of higher humidity with the roof closed. The three-time Grand Slam champion said her team typically has extra rackets ready. 'They always have like two extra rackets with the higher tension and two extra rackets with lower tension. They prepare it. You don't have to wait for another racket,' Sabalenka said. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Sabalenka said she lost in the 2023 French Open semifinals to Karolina Muchova 'because I didn't have racket' with the right tension. 'We weren't prepared. I didn't have a right tension. I had to play with a lower tension. I didn't control the ball, didn't feel well,' she said. 'After that experience,' she continued, 'we learned it's four extra rackets in my team's bag just in case. You never know. You can wake up and feel great with one tension. Another day you wake up and you don't feel at all. You got to be prepared.' ___ AP tennis:


Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Siegemund makes Keys the latest Wimbledon upset victim
This most unpredictable of Wimbledons delivered yet another surprise Friday when reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the No. 6 seed, was a lopsided loser in the third round, eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund of Germany. Keys' exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the end of Week 1: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who stuck around by claiming the last five games and defeating 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4 at a boisterous Centre Court at night. No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen already were out. The men's field also has seen its share of surprises, including a Wimbledon-record 13 seeds gone in the first round. 'At times, it wasn't the best quality, let's say. But I managed, and in the end, it's just important to find solutions and I did that well. Kept my nerves in the end,' Siegemund said, then added with a laugh: 'There are always nerves. If you don't have nerves in this moment, you're probably dead.' Wimbledon might be the only Grand Slam event where Keys hasn't reached at least the semifinals, but she has participated in the quarterfinals there twice and is enjoying a breakthrough 2025, including her title at Melbourne Park in January. Keys' power pitted against Siegemund's spins and slices offered quite a contrast in styles, and this outcome was surprisingly one-way traffic on a windy afternoon at No. 2 Court. The key statistic, undoubtedly, was this: Keys made 31 unforced errors, 20 more than Siegemund. When it ended with one last backhand return from Keys that sailed wide, Siegemund smiled broadly, raised her arms and jumped up and down repeatedly. 'You can't not be happy when you beat a great player like Madison,' Siegemund said. How unexpected is this for Siegemund? Before this year, her career record at the All England Club was 2-5, and she'd never made it past the second round. Taking into account all four Grand Slam tournaments, she had reached the third round only once in 28 previous appearances, getting to the quarterfinals at the 2020 French Open. 'There is technically no pressure for me,' said Siegemund, at 37 the oldest woman remaining in the tournament. 'I try to remember that I only play for myself. I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore. My boyfriend often tells me that.' On Sunday, the German faces another participant no one could have predicted would be at this stage of the grass-court major: 101st-ranked Solana Sierra of Argentina, who lost in qualifying and made it into the main draw when another player withdrew. Ben Shelton played for all of four points and about a minute, wrapping up his second-round match against Rinky Hijikata that was suspended Thursday night. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round by beating Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets. Other men's seeds advancing were No. 5 Taylor Fritz, No. 14 Andrey Rublev and No. 17 Karen Khachanov. In the women's draw, four-time major title winner Naomi Osaka's Wimbledon ended in the third round for the third time, eliminated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. No. 13 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. advanced to the fourth round, as did No. 24 Elise Mertens and No. 30 Linda Noskova. Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek will take on Danielle Collins at Centre Court — who could forget their testy exchange at the Paris Olympics? — while No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champ Novak Djokovic also are involved in matches at the main stadium. Two American women will be in action at No. 1 Court: Hailey Baptiste faces No. 7 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, and No. 10 Emma Navarro plays defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.


Winnipeg Free Press
6 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Wimbledon: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka holds off home favorite Emma Raducanu at Centre Court
LONDON (AP) — Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staved off an upset bid by resurgent Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon by beating the home favorite 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the third-round at a raucous Centre Court on Friday night. Sabalenka, a two-time semifinalist at the All England Club, fought back in both sets against the the 2021 U.S. Open champion, who had been playing some of her best tennis since her title run at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier at age 18. In a 74-minute first set, Sabalenka converted her eighth set point, which came 30 minutes after the first. Raducanu went up 4-2, only to see Sabalenka reel off 11 of 12 points during one stretch while moving out front by a 5-4 score. Then arrived an epic game, lasting 13 minutes and containing 22 points, eight deuces, and seven set points for Sabalenka — all ending with Raducanu holding serve. Then, Raducanu had a set point while leading 6-5 in the tiebreaker, but Sabalenka saved it with a drop-shot winner and took the last three points of the set — ending it with a volley winner. The fans provided extra energy for the British player, cheering wildly when Raducanu fired winners and exhaling 'aww!' when she missed. Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, said she pretended the cheers were for her. 'Guys wow — what an atmosphere. My ears are still hurting. It was super loud,' she said in an on-court interview. In the second set, Raducanu broke to 3-1 and led 4-1 at the 1-hour, 35-minute mark, but Sabalenka reeled off the last five games. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Raducanu, ranked No. 40, had defeated 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the previous round. 'She pushed me really hard to get this win. I'm happy to see her healthy and back on track,' Sabalenka said. 'I'm pretty sure that soon she's going to be back in the top 10.' Sabalenka reached the final at each of the past three Grand Slam tournaments, winning the U.S. Open last September and finishing as the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open in June. ___ More AP tennis: