Wimbledon Day 3 — Not Fakin’ It
The third day of Wimbledon brought us three retirements, four 5-setters, six 4-setters, four 3-setters on the ladies’ side, and only two bagel sets. Another 5 seeds fell, the highest being #12 Anastasija Sevastova.
Though seed-slayers Hurkacz, Humbert, Fabbiano, Vesely, and Zhang backed up their first-round upsets with another win, the player that made the biggest follow-up splash was someone who hadn’t even beaten a seed in the first round.
A Star Is Born
As you may remember from Wimby Day 1, though, the player in question is 15-year-old American Coco Gauff. After taking out five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in round one, she backed it up today with a solid victory against 2017 Wimby semifinalist, Magdalena Rybarikova.
Generally we here at Tennis Inside Out are wary of the hype over younger players, and Coco is even younger than the usual “TOTALLY WILL WIN EVERYTHING” anointee . However, we gotta say, watching the match against Rybarikova was to witness something pretty darn special.
Hollywood types always talk about the “It” factor, that often undefinable aura that makes people sit up and take notice. Coco has the tennis version of that. She is just so smooth and weightless on the court, her form so flawless — her service motion the studied, elegant perfection of a veteran star player rather than the sort of jangly collection of nervous energy you’d expect from a teen who prepared for the match by watching YouTube shows you’ve never heard of.
Her press conference is as intriguing to watch as the match was, with subtle vacillations between careful, thoughtful responses about her efforts and ambitions on court and then the youthful “starstruck” glee over getting DMs from celebs.
Our personal favorite moment is when asked (by WTA’s Courtney Nguyen, we believe) whether she felt like she was redlining it on court this week or if this is her natural comfort level, Gauff said she felt comfortable and credited a change in mindset:
“I don’t think it was so much how many balls I hit in practice, it was more off court, thinking ‘how can I improve myself, improve how I act on the court?’ And it’s definitely been a challenge, but I think I’ve kind of reached the–basically, almost–best mentality I can get to.
I mean, you always can improve, but right now I’m just, I feel like the way I’m acting and the way I kind of feel inside… You can kinda fake it ’til you make it, but…I’m not fakin’ it. (laughs) At least not right now.”
Twist of Fortune
Another all-American clash starring Coco Gauff was thwarted by Polona Hercog. The unseeded Slovenian, who reached the R16 at both Eastbourne and Den Bosch, got grass revenge at Wimby for a straight sets clay loss in Rome–to Madison Keys.
Whoever wins the Gauff / Hercog battle gets to move on to….either Halep or Azarenka. But lets not amp up everyone in the tennis world just yet–lots of tennis to be played before the hype gets EVER BIGGER.
The American ladies are getting scarcer as the week progresses, with Brengle going out to Muchova and Kenin losing a tough scorcher of a match against teenager Dayana Yastremska.
.@D_Yastremska got the better of a three-set thriller with Sofia Kenin to advance to the third round at @Wimbledon –> https://t.co/lTlLUavoKW pic.twitter.com/UmbuRtzh1a
β WTA (@WTA) July 3, 2019
Yastremska gets Swiss player Viktorija Golubic next, since Yulia Putinseva couldn’t back up her impressive victory over Naomi Osaka in the first round.
Meanwhile, Danielle Collins was taking her turn upsetting a seed today, in a topsy-turvy match with Anastasija Sevastova.
Danielle Collins completes the comeback. From a set and 0-3 down she defeats No.12 seed Anastasija Sevastova 46 64 63 to move into 3R. Her coach Betsy Nagelson McCormack will love that fight.
β WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) July 3, 2019
She gets Petra Martic next. #Wimbledon
(For added drama, Dani was also up 4-0 in the third until Ana fought her way back up to 3-4 in the fading light. Dani wrestled for control just in time, for another break and the match.)
There Are Not Enough Crying Emojis
That feeling when your fave gets a $#@! draw and has a tough 5-set loss at Wimbledon….. ππππππ #Wawrinka #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/o99LlshqIG
β Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) July 3, 2019
After a rough double knee surgery, it’s taken quite some time for the Swiss player to find the full-flight #Stanimal — but he’s finally peaking again. So, the draw gods throw him a line-up at the French Open containing Garin, Tsitsipas, Dimitrov and lifelong nemesis Federer. As JMac would say…
Now at Wimby, Stan wins sublimely in straights in the first round only to get American tree Reilly Opelka, who chooses this day to go all GOAT tree on Stan. If our Swiss crumpet somehow HAD managed to win this soul-crushing servebot experience, his reward would have likely been Raonic in the next round followed by Anderson. I mean…… *unprintable livid exclamations*
At least we got this….
Wawrinka standing so far back on return, to try and retrieve Opelka’s serve, he runs into the lineswoman.
β Matthew Willis (@MattRacquet) July 3, 2019
Gives her a hug.
π₯BBC#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/O69FrVUHrk
Surely Stan the Man needs to be allowed to kick some serious ass at the US Open, right? RIGHT?????
Stirring the Pot
So, the big DRAMAZ planned for tomorrow is the Nadal / Kyrgios match and well….some things have happen-ed….
Nadal touches on the topic of ‘respect’ between himself and Kyrgios #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/6CeWnH2wXz
β 7Sport (@7Sport) July 3, 2019
Kyrgios is asked about calling Nadal “super salty.” His response “do you have what his uncle said to me first?” Journalist does not, Kyrgios is very unimpressed.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/iO8RJH2aPG
β Dima (@panicmode_on) July 2, 2019
so, nick came out of practice, looked at the crowd waiting by the barrier, and said ‘anyone with a rafa hat is not getting anything’
β el πβ π± (@tenetztowinne) July 3, 2019
So….no telling what we’ll get tomorrow:
- A) A screamer of a match that totally lives up to the hype
- B) A total dumpster fire
- C) A total dumpster fire that totally lives up to the hype
WHAT ELSE?
(π₯@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/5ZXArV9pAN
β doublefault28 (@doublefault28) July 3, 2019
In a battle of the fearhands, Nando came back from two sets down to win in five over hometown fave Kyle Edmund.
(Article continues below.)
(π₯@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/9mONA3pbKC
β doublefault28 (@doublefault28) July 3, 2019
Hot Legs Khachanov came back from a set down to win in four over the Man Who Goes Commando On Grass, Feli Lopez.
Learning from @RafaelNadal ππͺπ»
β Karen Khachanov (@karenkhachanov) July 3, 2019
Received from him a couple from our matches! #Wimbledon https://t.co/f5AB3SxPul
david beats goliath. pic.twitter.com/uBYnLnWznP
β brooks (@brooksandtennis) July 3, 2019
That’s a wrap for Day 3 of Wimbledon! Want to move on to DAY 4??
Do you want to catch up on Day 2? Or Day 1?
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