London [UK], July 3: Former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini lived up to his dark horse tag with an impressive second-round win over 20th seed Arthur Fils to earn a first Centre Court triumph since 2021.
Berrettini missed out on a maiden grand slam title five years ago to Novak Djokovic and had experienced defeats on the main arena at All England Club in recent years to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Yet buoyed by an entertaining four-set victory over Stan Wawrinka on Tuesday, Berrettini wiped out Fils and sealed success with a classy volley on third match point.
"It was such a nice moment playing against a legend like Stan, Court One, and a match I will definitely remember for the rest of my life, but I also think this one is pretty special on Centre Court," Berrettini said after a 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win.
Second seed Alexander Zverev joined Berrettini in the third round after he chalked up a 50th tour-level victory on grass with a routine 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) success over Valentin Royer.
Fifth seed Alex De Minaur was happy to bring the heat after a dominant serving display downed Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at the start of day four.
Taylor Fritz also wasted little time on court after the sixth seed got the better of compatriot Patrick Kypson in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 7-5.
He again arrived on court in a stylish Hugo Boss outfit, which was followed by a smoother discarding of his white trousers.
Swiatek gets Navratilova seal of approval
Reigning Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek earned top marks from Martina Navratilova after brushing aside Karolina Pliskova to reach the third round.
The world number three was in tears on court after her title defence began with a stuttering three-set victory over world number 79 Taylor Townsend.
She delivered a far more accomplished display on Thursday and wasted little time in wrapping up an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win over 2021 runner-up Pliskova.
Eighteen-time grand slam singles champion Navratilova graded Swiatek's performance an A+.
"When legends like that say nice things about you, it means a lot," the third seed said in her on-court interview.
Maya Joint failed to back up her headline-grabbing victory over Serena Williams after collapsing to a three-set loss to 29th seed Alexandra Eala.
The 20-year-old Australian ended the singles comeback of 23-time grand slam singles winner Williams on Tuesday evening with a three-set Centre Court victory.
She claimed the opening set of her second-round match but Filipino Eala won nine games in a row to seal a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 success and set up a meeting with Swiatek.
Last year's runner-up Amanda Anisimova came from 3-1 down in the deciding set to edge past Sofia Kenin 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3) and set up another all-American affair with Madison Keys.
Former Australian Open champion Keys - a two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist - ended British interest in the women's singles by beating Katie Swan 6-1, 6-4.
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, breezed past American world number 50 Caty McNally 6-1, 6-2 on Centre Court, while 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini saw off Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic 7-6 (7-0), 6-4.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk and American Emma Navarro were other seeds to progress on day four of the Championships.
But Diana Shnaider - the 15th seeded French Open semi-finalist - was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 by fellow Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
Source: Qatar Tribune
