Barty wins Blinkova battle to reach Wimbledon third round

London — World No 1 Ash Barty moved into the third round at Wimbledon but not without a battle as she overcame spirited Russian Anna Blinkova and her own inconsistency in a 6-4 6-3 win on Thursday.

The top seed never looked in danger against the 89th-ranked Blinkova, but it was still not plain sailing for the Australian scrapper. Her serve, so often a dependable weapon, was at times wayward, as she hit nine double faults and was broken three times, while her 33 unforced errors suggest she has some way to go to get fully sharp on the grass.

Barty, whose sole Grand Slam title came at the 2019 French Open, has never gone beyond the last 16 at Wimbledon. She ultimately had too much firepower for Blinkova, however, and wrapped up victory after an hour and 30 minutes when her opponent swiped a forehand long.

“A few things didn’t feel quite right today. That’s half the battle in sport, being able to find a way when it’s not feeling all that great,” Barty told reporters. “I felt like when my back was against the wall today I was able to bring the good stuff. It just wasn’t quite there all the time.”

Next up for Barty will be an encounter with 64th-ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova, who booked her spot in the third round with a 4-6 6-2 6-2 win over CoCo Vandeweghe.

Second seed Daniil Medvedev subdued some early fight from Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz before brutally dispatching the talented teenager 6-4 6-1 6-2 to reach the third round.

The 18-year-old Alcaraz, who has enjoyed a rapid rise up the rankings this year to 75th place, received a hearty send-off from the Court One crowd after showcasing his potential and flashes of his shot-making talent.

Yet Medvedev had too much for the youngster and turned on the afterburners in the second and third sets to hand out a punishing lesson to his opponent.

“Carlos is an amazing player,” said Medvedev, who will next face either former finalist Marin Cilic of Croatia or French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi. “I am sure he will soon be top 10 or higher.”

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev moved smoothly into the third round  with a 7-5 6-2 6-3 win over American Tennys Sandgren. The clean-hitting German was always in command of an entertaining tussle on Court Two once he broke Sandgren’s serve at 5-5 in the first set.

From then on it was one-way traffic as Zverev reached the third round for the fourth time. Sandgren entertained the crowd with some good-natured banter and could only chuckle when he made a complete mess of a smash to go down a double break in the second set.

Zverev faced only one break point in the match and has yet to drop a set. He will face another American in the next round — either 31st seed Taylor Fritz or Steve Johnson.

Reuters