Wimbledon 2025: Sabalenka overcomes Bouzkova, reaches third round
As the sun played hide-and-seek with the grey clouds that hovered over Centre Court, Sabalenka kept knocking on the door in the opening set but was shut out by Bouzkova each time and dropped serve with a double fault in the 11th game.
A frustrated Sabalenka let out a scream when she failed to convert a breakpoint in the following game but the 27-year-old quickly composed herself to force a tiebreak with a backhand winner on her next opportunity.
Second set ✅ Second round ✅
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka defeats Marie Bouzkova 7-6(4), 6-4 after a tough battle on Centre Court 😮💨#Wimbledonpic.twitter.com/9l8VVWeyzp — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2025
The three-time Grand Slam champion from Belarus, who has a golden chance to claim her first Wimbledon title with several seeds losing early, led the tiebreak after a couple of errors from Bouzkova and wrapped up the set with a forehand winner.
An untimely error at the net by Bouzkova gifted Sabalenka the break in the fifth game of the second set and there was no looking back from there with the twice semifinalist holding firm to close out the win.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
23 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Wimbledon 2025: Top seed Sabalenka dodges another major upset of the year
Aryna Sabalenka was just two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round Wimbledon match three times on Wednesday before asserting herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova to avoid the sort of surprise that has sent a group of seeded players home. Four of the top 10 women's seeds failed to make it out of the first round: No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 9 Paula Badosa. In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players 10 women, 13 men were gone by the end of Day 2, equaling the most at any Grand Slam event in the past 25 years. Of course you're going to know the overall picture. ... I hope it's no upsets anymore in this tournament, the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka said afterward with a chuckle. "If you know what I mean. She is a three-time Grand Slam champion, with all of those titles coming on hard courts at the Australian Open or U.S. Open. She also was the runner-up to Gauff at the clay-court French Open last month drawing criticism from some over her post-match comments, a flap she and Gauff set aside via social media videos last week but hasn't been past the semifinals on the grass of the All England Club. A year ago, Sabalenka was forced to miss Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder. On Wednesday, the record-breaking heat of the first two days gave way to rain that delayed the start of play on smaller courts for about two hours, along with temperatures that dropped from above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) to below 68 F (20 C). At Centre Court, the 48th-ranked Bouzkova went ahead 6-5 in the first set with the match's initial service break thanks to a double-fault by Sabalenka. Bouzkova served for that set, and was two points away from it at 30-15 in that game, again at 30-all, then once more at deuce. But on the last such occasion, Sabalenka came through with a forehand volley winner she punctuated with a yell, followed by a down-the-line backhand winner that was accompanied by another shout. That was a tough moment," said Sabalenka, who will face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu or 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova next. Until that point, (my) return wasn't great enough to break her serve. I'm really glad ... everything clicked together and I was able to break her back. I kind of like felt a little bit better. That sent them to a tiebreaker, and from 4-all there, Sabalenka took the next three points, ending the set with a powerful forehand return winner off a 67 mph second serve. In the second set, the only break arrived for a 3-2 lead for Sabalenka, and that was basically that. Sabalenka compiled a 41-17 edge in winners while making only 18 unforced errors in a match that lasted a little more than 1 1/2 hours. What else happened Wednesday at Wimbledon? Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who is seeded sixth, joined Sabalenka in the third round, beating Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2. Other players in action later included 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini among the women and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe among the men. Who plays Thursday at the All England Club? Novak Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 major championships at Wimbledon will lead off the Centre Court schedule on Day 4 against Britain's Dan Evans at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), followed by Iga Swiatek vs. Caty McNally, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. Aleksandar Vukic.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Bailey hit sacrifice fly in 10th to lift Giants over D-backs and snap 4-game losing streak
Jul 03, 2025 10:25 AM IST PHOENIX — Patrick Bailey's sacrifice fly in the 10th inning brought home Jung Ho Lee and the San Francisco Giants snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 on Wednesday night. Bailey hit sacrifice fly in 10th to lift Giants over D-backs and snap 4-game losing streak The Giants led 5-3 heading into the ninth, but Geraldo Perdomo led off with a single and then Ketel Marte — who was named a National League All-Star starter at second base earlier in the day — launched a tying homer to right off Camilo Doval for his 18th long ball of the season. San Francisco retook the lead in the 10th on Bailey's fly ball to center after Lee advanced to third on an infield single by Heliot Ramos. Doval worked the bottom of the 10th for the win. San Francisco's Mike Yastrzemski went deep on the second pitch of the game, driving a fastball into the right field seats. Lee's triple drove home Wilmer Flores to make it 2-0 in the first. The Giants pushed their advantage to 3-0 in the fifth on Rafael Devers' RBI single. Alek Thomas hit a leadoff homer to cut the deficit to 3-1 and the next three batters reached base against Landen Roupp with no outs. Lefty Erik Miller did an admirable job getting out of the jam, allowing Josh Naylor's sacrifice fly but perserving a 3-2 lead. Arizona's Merrill Kelly gave up three runs on five hits and three walks over six innings. The right-hander struck out three. The D-backs' first two batters of the seventh inning reached base, but reliever Randy Rodriguez got out of the tough spot by striking out Tim Tawa and getting Naylor to ground into a double play. Perdomo reached base five times on three hits and two walks. The teams wrap up the series Thursday night when the Giants send former Arizona LHP Robbie Ray to the mound. He'll face D-backs RHP Brandon Pfaadt . This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Stay updated with the latest sports news, including latest headlines and updates from the Olympics 2024, where Indian athletes will compete for glory in Paris. Catch all the action from tennis Grand Slam tournaments, follow your favourite football teams and players with the latest match results, and get the latest on international hockey tournaments and series.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Yuki Bhambri-Robert Galloway pair enters second of Wimbledon men's doubles
India's Yuki Bhambri and his American partner Robert Galloway progressed to the second round of men's doubles event at the Wimbledon with straight-sets win over Romain Arneodo of Monaco and Manuel Guinard of France here on Wednesday. The 16th-seeded Indo-American pair defeated Arneodo and Guinard 7-6(8) 6-4 in a first-round match that lasted one hour and 49 minutes. Yuki and Galloway will next take on the winner of the match between the Dutch combination of Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer and American Marcos Giron and Nuno Borges of Portugal in the next round. However, multiple Grand Slam champion Rohan Bopanna and his Belgian partner Sander Gill lost to German third seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 3-6, 4-6 in straight sets to bow out in the opening round. Till last reports came in, the third Indian in the fray Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and his Colombian partner Nicols Barrientos are engaged in a third set tie-breaker against Alexandre Muller of France and Belgium's David Goffin. The scoreline reads 6-4, 4-6, 6-6. Another Indian N Sriram Balaji and his Mexican partner Miguel Reyes-Varela will also be in action in the men's doubles and will take on Aleksandar Kovacevic and Learner Tien in the opening round.
