Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday reached the third round at Wimbledon, while Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka was demolished on her return to Centre Court after a five-year absence.
Sinner defeated Italian Davis Cup teammate Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a three-hour, 42-minute duel.
Berrettini fired 65 winners past the top seed and carved out four breaks of serve to two, but Sinner calmly recovered from a break down in the fourth set before playing the more composed tiebreak, which ended when Berrettini committed his 48th and final unforced error of the contest.
Photo: AP
“It’s very tough we had to face each other in the second round,” said Sinner, who is to play Miomir Kecmanovic in the next round.
Alcaraz defeated Australia’s world No. 69 Aleksandar Vukic 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-2 on the back of 42 winners.
Alcaraz next faces Frances Tiafoe, the American he defeated in five sets in the semi-finals of the 2022 US Open on his way to his first Grand Slam triumph.
“I’m going for him,” said Alcaraz, who is bidding to become just the sixth man after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back. “I’m ready to play a really high level of tennis and hopefully take him.”
Tiafoe made the third round by seeing off Borna Coric.
Four-time major winner Osaka, playing on Centre Court for the first time since 2019, went down 6-4, 6-1 to Emma Navarro of the US in just 59 minutes.
The 26-year-old former world No. 1 is now ranked No. 113 having only returned to the tour in January after giving birth to daughter Shai last year.
“I’m a little disappointed because I wanted to do really well. I feel like I put a lot of time into it. There’s always next year,” Osaka said.
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