Wimbledon: Nadal and Swiatek arrive with difficulty in the third round, where there are no more Argentines

Neither the wind, nor the rain, nor the unforced errors have managed to get the Roland Garros champions out of Wimbledon. Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Polish Iga Swiatek suffered this Thursday to continue to advance in a tournament also marked by covid, which saw the second round eliminated Karolina Pliskova and Argentine Diego Schwartzman.

Nadal, two-time Wimbledon champion (2008 and 2010), three more chances as a finalist and looking for his 23rd Grand Slam title at 36, took three hours to win 6-4, 6-4, 4- 6 and 6-3 to Lithuanian Ricadas Berankis, number 106 in the world, who never made it through the second round.

“Every day is a challengeall points are difficult, especially in these conditions, “admitted the Majorcan, who hadn’t played at the All England Club since 2019, hadn’t played any matches on grass this year before making his debut in the London tournament on Tuesday and suffered. the interruption due to rain at the beginning of the final part.

Also, on a cold and windy day, Nadal, who seemed to be suffering from some sort of abdominal discomfort, lost his second set since the start of the tournament, after the one he suffered in the first round against Argentinian Francisco Cerúndolo.

A better serve by the Spaniard and several mistakes by the Lithuanian in the fourth set allowed him to take control of the match, interrupted when he was leading by 3-0 due to the rain that continues to rain on London.

“Today I think my best tennis came in the last set, but I have to keep improving. Sometimes you can’t play at the highest level, but I hope to reach it soon“, predicted Nadal, current fourth in the ATP ranking and second-seeded, who could only face Novak Djokovic (3rd) in a hypothetical final.

But first he must overcome his next opponent: the Italian Lorenzo Sonego, already winner of the French Hugo Gaston 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4 and who will face for the first time.

“He is someone who has won something in the course of his career”, commented the tennis player ironically light blue in view of the clash with the Spaniards. “I’ll have to play my best tennis, aggressively because it’s useless to defend on grass because the ball practically doesn’t bite,” explained Sonego, who faced Roger Federer for the round of 16 on the center court last year. “This will serve as an experience for me,” he said.

Another who secured the move to the third round was Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Aussie Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 after two hours and four minutes of play and was one step away. since drawing his best performance at Wimbledon in 2018, when he was eliminated in the first round of the previous edition of the tournament.

“It will be a great battle,” Tsitsipas predicted, alluding to the duel he will hold with Australian Nick Kyrgios, who defeated him three of the four times they faced each other and qualified by beating Serbian Filip Krajinovic with a categorical score of 6. – 2, 6-3 and 6-1 after an hour and 25 minutes “This is the tournament that I mark on my calendar and that I can’t wait”, confessed the Australian, whose best performance at All England came in 2014, when he made his tournament debut through to the quarter-finals.

In the third round also the Chilean Cristian Garín and the Colombian Daniel Elahi Galán are installed, the first after beating the French Hugo Grenier 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 and the second thanks to the forced abandonment of the Spanish Roberto Bautista Agut ., third infected by Covid-19 in the tournament after the Italian Matteo Berrettini and the Croatian Marin Cilic.

Eliminated instead It was the Argentine Diego Schwartzman, 12th seeded, who ended up losing in an incredible match against the British Liam Broady, 132 in the world, who beat him 6-2 in the first set and lost the following two 6-4 and 6-0. When everything seemed to indicate that Peque was headed for victory, the locals reacted, drawing by winning 7-6 (6) in the fourth set and taking the victory by a score of 6-1 in the fifth and final, leaving the tournament no Argentine presence.

In another match of the day, the Dutch Botic van de Zandschulp beat the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 and will clash with the French Richard Gasquet, winner 6-3, 3 -6, 6-4 and 6-3 by the American Mackenzie McDonald. Another American, Taylor Fritz, won 6-3, 7-6 (3) and 6-3 against British Alastair Gray and will be the rival of Slovakian Alex Molcan, who defeated compatriot Marcos Giron 6-3, 6- 2 and 6-4.

The record of Iga Swiatek

In the women’s draw, the favorite for the title in the absence of the reigning champion, the Australian Ashleigh Barty, Iga Swiatek, scored it 37th consecutive victory and went to the third round of Wimbledon beating Dutchman Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Since being eliminated in the second round in Dubai in February, the Pole hasn’t lost a match. In addition, she has won hard court titles in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami, and then on clay in Stuttgart, Rome, Madrid and Paris.

But not without difficulty: the 138th classified, coming from the qualifiers, gave her two breaks in the first set and another in the second. However, she managed to fit together a series of victories that the Swiss Martina Hingis had since 1997.

“I’d say weed is hard enough for meI’m not going to lie, “the Pole later acknowledged at the press conference.” You can see that maybe I’m not playing as efficiently as on other surfaces. My confidence in general is improving, but this tournament is difficult and I’m still looking for how to play the best game here. “

Last year’s finalist, the Czech Karolina Pliskova, number 7 in the world and another of the favorites, greeted the All England Club, defeated in the second round by the British Katie Boulter, number 118 in the world.

Also installed in the third round is the Romanian Simona Halep, champion at Wimbledon in 2019, who beat the Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 7-5 and 6-4 and will regulate the passage to the second round against the Polish Madalena Frech, who won by double 6-4 against the Slovakian Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova.

Coronavirus, a problem at Wimbledon

Covid-19 begins to wreak havoc on the tournament: Tuesday prevented the debut of the Italian Matteo Berrettinilast year’s finalist, who started out as a great threat in the manner of Nadal; the day before he had had the Croatian Marin Cilic withdraw, 2017 finalist; Y this Thursday take care to the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

Players claim that nothing forces them to take tests or retire for a positive, but that they prefer to do it for the good of all. Paula Badosa from Spain also said she is not afraid of getting sick because she has already contracted “all possible types”.

On Saturday she will face Czech Petra Kvitova, two-time Wimbledon champion (2011 and 2014), today the 25th women’s racket in the world, in the third round. And even though she never made it to the Wimbledon round of 16, could potentially meet Swiatek in the semifinals.

With information from AFP and ANSA