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Wimbledon: Sabalenka eases into third round, hopes to dodge the upset bug
The women’s world No.1 and men’s defending champion Carlos Alcaraz both won their second round matches in straight sets
Mumbai: A question in the on-court interview mentioned the carnage that has been taking place in the early rounds of Wimbledon. Of the 64 seeded players in the men’s and women’s singles draws, a whopping 23 were handed a first round defeat.
Aryna Sabalenka was asked on Wednesday if she pays any attention at all to the results around her.
“It’s very sad to see so many top players lose in the first round,” said the world No.1. “As the time shows, you better focus on yourself and stay away from the results. Of course, you’re going to know the overall picture but it’s better to take it one step at a time and do your best every time you’re here competing.”
She broke into a smile before adding, almost as an afterthought: “I hope there are no upsets anymore in this tournament. If you know what I mean.”
The Belarusian is playing at Wimbledon as the top seed for the first time. And though a lot of the seeded stars have struggled on the grass courts of the All England Club, Sabalenka looked relaxed as she beat world No.48 Marie Bouzkova 7-6(4), 6-4 on Centre Court.
A few hours later, two-time defending champion and second seed Carlos Alcaraz also stormed into the third round with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over British amateur Oliver Tarvert.
It is still early days in the tournament, but Sabalenka seems to have made the adjustment from clay to grass. More importantly, she has put behind her loss in the final of the French Open.
In that defeat to Coco Gauff, she had committed 70 unforced errors. Sabalenka though was in better control on Wednesday, hitting 41 winners to 18 unforced errors.
There were, however, still some nervy moments in the match.
With neither managing to get a break in the early stages, Bouzkova was the one who made the first move and took a 6-5 lead. Going down a break was perhaps what Sabalenka needed as she broke back immediately before winning the tiebreak.
“That was a tough moment in that match,” Sabalenka said on court. “Honestly, I was just trying to put the ball back on that side and hope that I’ll be able to break her back. Because till that point, (my) return wasn’t great enough to break her serve. I’m glad that at that moment I was able to break her back and I felt a little bit better. I think that was why I was able to win the tiebreak and get the win in straight sets.”
In this Wimbledon that has seen the bigger names tumble much earlier than expected, Sabalenka has managed to stay composed. Playing in that same vein will serve her well as she hopes to go better than her previous record in London.
The 27-year-old has been working to break through the shackles of being a hardcourt specialist – a surface on which she has won all her three Grand Slam titles so far.
She’s also hoping to get a first major win of this season. She reached the final of the Australian Open but lost in the final to Madison Keys in three sets. Last month, she reached the French Open final on clay for the first time, but lost in three sets to Gauff.
Now at Wimbledon, she will look to go further than the two semi-final finishes she managed in her last two attempts in London.
But she has travelled to England with some good preparation under her belt. She shared a training session with seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, who, she explained, gave her some “honest advice”.
Sabalenka does have the game to do some damage, especially on grass. She is a hard-hitter, and her hitting the ball flat works well on the low-bounce-fast-zip surface at Wimbledon. The big serve is also a powerful weapon.
So far, she has ticked the right boxes at Wimbledon.
