Saturday, July 6, 2019

Bertens and Stephens both out of Wimbledon in third round




4th seed Kiki Bertens, whom some picked to go very deep (and even win) in the tournament, failed to get past the third round today when she was outsmarted and outplayed by Barbora Strycova. Strycova out-served noted big server Bertens, and--as if her serving woes weren't enough of a problem--Bertens made repeated errors on her backhand side. Strycova's 7-5, 6-1 victory books her a date with 21st seed Elise Mertens in the round of 16. Mertens defeated Wang Qiang in the third round.




After putting in a lackluster performance in the first half of her match against Sloane Stephens, Jo Konta suddenly appeared to have connected with the thought, "Hey, this is someone I know how to beat!" Indeed, the British star and seed had already defeated the 9th seed three times this year--twice on clay and once on a hard court. In the fifth game of the second set--a game that went on and on--Konta dramatically saved three break points, and that was the beginning of her all-out campaign to win her third round match.


Konta was dominant from then on, winning the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Serena Williams defeated Julia Goerges, a semifinalist last year, and Alison Riske continued her superb run by upsetting 13th seed Belinda Bencic.  Also victorious today were Petra Kviotva (def. Magda Linette), Ash Barty (def. Harriet Dart) and Carla Suarez Navarro (def. Lauren Davis).

In doubles, there was an upset today: Danielle Collins and Bethanie Mattek-Sands defeated 5th seeds Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai.

Here is the round of 16 singles draw:

Ash Barty (1) vs. Alison Riske
Serena Williams (11) vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (30)
Barbora Strycova vs. Elise Mertens (21)
Jo Konta (19) vs. Petra Kvitova (6)
Elina Svitolina (8) vs. Petra Martic (24)
Karolina Muchova vs. Karolina Pliskova (3)
Simona Halep (7) vs. Coco Gauff (Q)
Zhang Shuai vs. Dayana Yastremska

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