
Iga Swiatek fights back to reach Wimbledon third round
But she responded impressively in the Centre Court sunshine to prevail 5-7 6-2 6-1 in two hours and 25 minutes.
Iga Swiatek wins R2 matches.
The No.8 seed recovers from going a set down to defeat Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 and continue her journey at SW19 👊#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/bIJct7njvn
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2025
Reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova and 2022 winner Elena Rybakina also progressed to round three on day four of the Championships.
World number four Swiatek was Wimbledon girls' champion in 2018 but has only a single quarter-final appearance at the senior level of the tournament on an otherwise-impressive CV.
With the women's draw wide open following the elimination of five of the top 10 seeds, including last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini and current French Open champion Coco Gauff, the clay-court specialist was in serious danger of becoming the latest scalp.
American McNally, who had a career-high ranking of 54 prior to recent injury issues and beat Britain's Jodie Burrage in round one, stunned her rival by winning six of seven consecutive games to snatch the first set.
Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova progressed in three sets (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Yet the 23-year-old was victorious in only three more as Pole Swiatek marched on to a meeting with former Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins after finishing with an ace.
Earlier, title holder Krejcikova overcame Caroline Dolehide 6-4 3-6 6-2 to set up a clash with 10th seeded American Emma Navarro, who wasted little time in dispatching Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 6-2.
World number 11 Rybakina defeated Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-1, while 18-year-old seventh-seed Mirra Andreeva beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-1 7-6 (7-4).
Italian world number 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto backed up her shock success against third seed Jessica Pegula with a 6-0 6-4 triumph over American Katie Volynets
Electric from Elena ⚡️
The 2022 Ladies' Singles Champion defeats Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-1 to fly through to the third round 3️⃣#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/hK8mnXBFWZ
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2025
Dayana Yastremska, who knocked out Gauff, came from behind to edge past Anastasia Zakharova 5-7 7-5 7-6 (8).
Russian pair Ekaterina Alexandrova and Liudmila Samsonova, seeded 18th and 19th respectively, each enjoyed straight-sets victories.
Canadian lucky loser Victoria Mboko, 18, lost to Hailey Baptiste of the United States.

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

Leader Live
15 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Mirra Andreeva focused on Wimbledon prize under Conchita Martinez's watchful eye
The 18-year-old is on her best run so far at the All England Club having reached the quarter-finals, where she will take on Belinda Bencic on Wednesday. Andreeva has lost more than three games in a set only once this fortnight and was so mentally locked in during her fourth-round victory over Emma Navarro on Monday that she did not realise she had won. A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon) It was a funny moment, but a sign to her coach Conchita Martinez of her player's focus, with the Spaniard saying: 'It is very nice to see. 'No matter how or what, she is going for the next point and the next point. That is going to make a huge difference in her game.' Martinez knows very well what it takes to be a Wimbledon champion having lifted the trophy herself in 1994 and then guided Garbine Muguruza to the title eight years ago. The pair first began working together in April last year and the young Russian has already made huge progress, reaching the semi-finals of the French Open, winning two WTA 1000 titles and breaking into the top 10. Martinez believes the success of their partnership is how well they gel on and off court despite the generational gap. 'Her mentality on court – she is very accepting,' said Martinez. 'Sometimes on grass, you are not going to have a perfect match. Sometimes you are going to suffer and you have to give credit to the other player. 'I like her behaviour a lot in that sense. And when she is positive on the court and fighting for every ball, she becomes very dangerous. That is what we are seeing this week. 'It is very important to have a good chemistry together. And this happened from the moment we knew each other. 'She is a very nice girl, very thoughtful, so it is very pleasant to work with someone who is thankful and thoughtful about the team. Off the court, she smiles a lot, we can play cards, we can laugh about different things. 'That is very nice. And on the court, I like it that she is still very young and still has a lot of things to get better at so it makes it fun for me to work on these things.' Former British number one Greg Rusedski is teaming up with Martinez in the mixed invitation doubles, and he is not surprised to see the partnership flourishing. He said of Martinez: 'She understands the game. She knows pressure. She knows expectation. And she has that patience. We saw in Paris, they had a little bit of an argument in the match that she lost but that is the respect they have for each other. 'Sometimes you need to know when to have friction and when to have calmness. With Andreeva this year, she has shown us a lot of beautiful variety. She has come through two very difficult matches convincingly. 'She is the dark horse for the title right now. When you have someone who has won the title coaching you, that is a big plus.'


South Wales Guardian
16 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Aryna Sabalenka avoids major shock with fightback win over Laura Siegemund
Sabalenka, the runaway world number one and a three-time grand slam champion, had not dropped a set on her way to the quarter-finals. But 37-year-old Siegemund, who had never previously been beyond the second round, almost produced one of the all-time Centre Court shocks after taking the first set and then twice leading by a break in the decider. Comeback complete 🙌 World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka defeats Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach her third #Wimbledon semi-final. — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025 However, Sabalenka kept her nerve and her emotions in check as she dug in for a 4-6 6-2 6-4 victory in just under three hours. 'I need some time to cool down and recover, she pushed me so much,' said Sabalenka. 'After the first set I was looking at my box and saying 'book the tickets, we're out of this place'.' German women aged 37 have been the great disruptors of the English summer, with Tatiana Maria claiming a surprise win at Queen's Club before Siegemund's unlikely run here. A renowned doubles player, her game is built around slices, angles, drop shots and being nimble on her feet. But the two clubbing backhand winners with which she sealed two breaks of serve in the opening three games were straight from the Sabalenka playbook. It was a drop shot which brought up another break point, which was secured when an increasingly glum-looking Sabalenka went long, and when the Belarusian dumped a forehand into the net for the umpteenth time she found herself a set down for the first time this fortnight. Sabalenka disappeared off court at the changeover, and when play resumed she moved a break up, only for Siegemund to claw it straight back. Siegemund was beginning to deploy the dark arts she has built a reputation for, taking an age between points as Sabalenka waited to serve. It was clearly irritating the 27-year-old, but she took her frustration out on the ball with some trademark power hitting eventually levelling the match – the first set Siegemund had dropped this Championships. Yet the underdog bit back in the deciding set, and when she broke for 4-3 she was two games away from a seismic shock. However, Sabalenka broke back immediately and then roared with delight after putting away a smash on match point to reach the semi-finals for the 10th time in the last 11 grand slams.

Leader Live
16 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Taylor Fritz overcomes medical timeout and rogue tech to reach Wimbledon semis
In a big-hitting battle between the two tallest players to reach the last eight, 6ft 5ins Fritz overcame a third-set wobble, a medical timeout and a rogue line call to triumph 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6 (4) against 6ft 6ins Khachanov. The American will face either back-to-back champion Carlos Alcaraz or Britain's Cameron Norrie for a place in Sunday's final. Soaking it all in 🙌#Wimbledon — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025 'I'm feeling great to get through it,' Fritz said in his on-court interview. 'The match was going so well for me for two sets. I've never had a match really just flip so quickly, so I'm really happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done. 'I felt I couldn't miss and then all of sudden I'm making a ton of mistakes. 'Momentum was definitely not going to be on my side going into a fifth.' In another embarrassing episode for tournament organisers, Wimbledon's faltering electronic line calling system suffered a further malfunction during the quarter-final. 'Fault' was incorrectly called by the technology in the opening game of the fourth set when a Fritz backhand landed well inside the baseline. With the system still tracking the initial serve, chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell ordered the point be replayed. Khachanov had won the previous two meetings between the pair but those victories came three months apart more than five years ago when he was the higher-ranked player. Fritz has been a US Open finalist since then and demonstrated his prowess on grass with three Eastbourne titles. A break of serve in game two paved the way for the Californian to cruise to the opening set in 33 minutes. "I'm really happy with how I've turned my career around." After losing in the #Wimbledon QF twice, Taylor Fritz is now in his first semi-final at SW19 👏 — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025 Khachanov barely had sniff on his opponent's serve and, after surviving four break points earlier in the set, he crucially failed to hold in game nine as Fritz won 12 points in a row to move 2-0 in front. With the finish line coming into view, Fritz began to waver. Underdog Khachanov finally broke in game two of set three and then sparked hope of a fightback by promptly repeating the feat en route to emphatically halving his deficit. Fritz underwent treatment on his right foot ahead of the fourth set, which began in farcical fashion due to the inaccurate line call. A decider then looked on the cards when Khachanov broke immediately as his rival continued to make mistakes. Taylor's Triumphant 😤 Fritz wins in four and awaits the winner of Alcaraz and Norrie in the SF 👀#Wimbledon — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025 But Fritz regained his poise to hit back in game four before holding his nerve in the tie-break, which he secured with a smash, leading to a roar of delight, mixed with relief. 'Having played the quarter-finals here twice and lost in five (sets) twice, I don't think I could've taken another one,' he said. The 27-year-old also allayed fears about the severity of his foot issue. 'It's totally fine, it's pretty common, a lot of players do this tape job so your foot doesn't get irritated,' he said. 'I think I ripped it off at some point in the second so I just needed to get it re-done.'