Jannik Sinner thrashes Aleksandar Vukic to roar into Wimbledon third round

RNZ News

2 days ago

Jannik Sinner stretches to return a shot against Aleksandar Vukic during their second round match in the men's singles at Wimbledon, 3 July, 2025.
Photo:
AFP
World
number one Jannik Sinner
has demolished Australia's Aleksandar Vukic 6-1 6-1 6-3 in a Centre Court masterclass to move ominously into the third round of Wimbledon.
The Italian was streets ahead of the 93rd-ranked Vukic who barely laid a glove on the top seed in the opening two sets before saving face with some third-set resistance.
Sinner, bidding to win the title for the first time, never loosened his grip on a one-sided contest although he did need six match points to finish off Vukic in a prolonged final game.
There was never any chance of a repeat of last month's French Open final when he squandered three match points in a spellbinding clash with Carlos Alcaraz though, and he duly slammed down his 12th ace as the light began to fade.
"I struggled a bit to close it out. I'm very happy, Centre Court is such a special occasion," Sinner said.
"Yes, I enjoyed (the last game) because I won the game. If not, I don't know. The match can change very, very quickly. If he breaks me there it can go long distance."
Apart from a defeat by Alexander Bublik in Halle in the build-up to Wimbledon, Sinner has shown few ill-effects from the heartache of losing to Alcaraz in Paris.
He
parted ways with his trainer and physiotherapist, Marco Panichi and Ulises Badio
, days before Wimbledon, but even that strange timing does not seem to have ruffled his feathers.
With so many seeds having fallen by the wayside already, his path through to the latter stages looks clear.
The 23-year-old has yet to drop serve, has conceded only 12 games in the six sets he has played so far and will now train his sights on unseeded Spaniard Pedro Martinez as he continues his quest to become Italy's first Wimbledon champion.
Not that he is getting ahead of himself.
"Every opponent is very difficult. Third-round matches in Grand Slams are always special," he said.
"We saw so many upsets this tournament so we try to stay focused and raise our level. Today I thought the level was good. I can improve a few things but I am looking forward to it."
Seven-times Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic showed that he remains a real threat for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title at the age of 38 with a clinical 6-3 6-2 6-0 destruction of home hope Dan Evans on Centre Court.
The Serb continues to rage against the dying of the light and, having identified the grass of Wimbledon as his best chance of adding to his extraordinary tally, showed exactly why in a superb all-round performance where he looked as sharp and fit as at any time in his career.
He was never really troubled on serve all afternoon while wildcard Evans had to scramble for almost everything on his - saving nine first-set break points before eventually succumbing on the 10th.
Djokovic continued to dominate as Evans, who beat him in their only previous meeting on clay four years ago, saw his tame sliced backhands repeatedly crashed back past him as the sixth seed romped home.
"Technically, tactically I knew exactly what I needed to do and I executed perfectly," Djokovic said.
"Sometimes you have these kind of days, where everything goes your way, everything flows and it's good to be in the shoes and holding a racket on a day like this."
Iga Swiatek of Poland returns the ball to Caty McNally of the United States during the women's singles second-round match at Wimbledon, 3 July 2024.
Photo:
AFP
Iga Swiatek may not love the grass but relishes a battle whatever the surface and showed all that fight and bullish determination as she recovered to beat American Caty McNally 5-7 6-2 6-1 and reach the third round.
McNally, the world number 208, looked poised to cause an upset when she clawed her way back from 4-1 down to take the first set against the five-times Grand Slam champion.
At that point Swiatek's mediocre record at the All England Club, where the Pole has never gone past the quarter-finals, seemed to be weighing heavily on her shoulders.
But rather than shy away from the scrap, the former world number one flicked a psychological switch that saw her come out for the second set transformed, upping her aggression and playing with a ferocity McNally simply could not handle.
She broke early in the second set and never looked back, losing only three more games to set up a clash with another American Danielle Collins.
"I started the match well so I knew that my game was there," Swiatek said. "I knew that at the start of the second set I had to be more accurate. I just tried to improve and I'm happy it worked."
The eighth seed may have her sights set far higher than the third round, but by reaching the last 32 she underlined her consistency on the big stage.
The 23-year-old is the third player this century to reach the third round in 22 consecutive women's singles Grand Slams after Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams.
Former champion Elena Rybakina barely needed to shift out of second gear as the 11th seed motored into the third round with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Greek Maria Sakkari.
Rybakina was gifted a break in the opening game when Sakkari produced three successive double faults and the 2022 Wimbledon champion held firm from there to wrap up the opening set with minimum fuss in front of a sparse crowd on Court One.
And it was far from convincing, but Czech Barbora Krejcikova kept her Wimbledon defence on track - just - with a laboured 6-4 3-6 6-2 second round win over American Caroline Dolehide.
Jack Draper's hopes of joining the list of home-grown Wimbledon champions were snuffed out in spectacular fashion by Marin Cilic when the Croatian made a mockery of his low ranking to topple the fourth seed 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 in the second round.
Marin Cilic during his match against local title hope Jack Draper.
Photo:
AFP / Yomiuri Shimbun / Daisuke Urakami
Despite now plying his trade mostly on the second-tier Challenger circuit after his ranking went into freefall, plummeting outside the top 1000 following knee surgery in 2023, Cilic made sure his return to Wimbledon for the first time in four years was memorable.
Cilic will meet Spain's Jaume Munar for a place in the fourth round.
Meanwhile, American Ben Shelton needs just one more game to reach the third round after his match with Australian Rinky Hijikata was suspended because of the fading light with the 10th seed 6-2 7-5 5-4 up.
- Reuters