Another day of huge scalpings in the women’s draw. We said the draw was open at the start of this year’s Wimbledon, but now it’s difficult to predict a single match result correctly.
Pliskova, a lot of people’s favourite was defeated by Russian Magdalena Rybarikova in three sets on Centre Court. Rybarikova now has a 17-1 record on grass in 2017 and surely this victory catapults her up the list of contenders for the title.
A great skirmish developed on Court two as former finalist Agnieszka Radwanksa held tough to defend two match points against Christina McHale, whose performance seemed to take a nosedive after the emotion of losing the second set tiebreak. Radwanska will now face Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky, a quarter-finalist in 2015. We couldn’t possibly comment on this match-up but who are you backing to reach round four?
McHale’s compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands was victim to a horrendous injury earlier in the day. Her knee buckled as she approached the net, Mattek-Sands screamed ‘help me’ several times in the short time before receiving medical attention. The injury unfortunately does look serious and it could put Bethanie on the side lines for a long period, we wish her all the best and hope for a speedy recovery.
Only fifteen of thirty-two seeds remain after round two. Only Pliskova from the top ten, so still a lot of experience left within the draw. The bulk of loss from the top players has been from the mid and lower seeds, which just goes to show how much a surface like grass can trivialise a ranking.
Ladies’ Singles Seed List after Round Two
1 Angelique Kerber v Shelby Rogers RND 3
2 Simona Halep v Shuai Peng RND 3
3 Karolina Pliskova lost to Magdalena Rybarikova RND 2
4 Elina Svitolina v Carina Witthoeft RND 3
5 Caroline Wozniacki v Anett Kontaveit RND 3
6 Johanna Konta v Maria Sakkari RND 3
7 Svetlana Kuznetsova v Polona Hercog RND 3
8 Dominika Cibulkova v Ana Konjuh [27] RND 3
9 Agnieszka Radwanska v Timea Bacsinszky [19] RND 3
10 Venus Williams v Naomi Osaka RND 3
11 Petra Kvitova lost to Madison Brengle RND 2
12 Kristina Mladenovic lost to Alison Riske RND 2
13 Jelena Ostapenko v Camila Giorgi RND 3
14 Garbine Muguruza v Sorana Cirstea RND 3
15 Elena Vesnina lost to Victoria Azarenka RND 2
16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost to Arina Rodionova RND 1
17 Madison Keys lost to Camila Giorgi RND 2
18 Anastasija Sevastova lost to Heather Watson RND 2
19 Timea Bacsinszky v Agnieszka Radwanska [9] RND 3
20 Daria Gavrilova lost to Petra Martic RND 1
21 Caroline Garcia v Madison Brengle RND 3
22 Barbora Strycova lost to Naomi Osaka RND 2
23 Kiki Bertens lost to Sorana Cirstea RND 1
24 Coco Vandeweghe v Alison Riske RND 3
25 Carla Suarez Navarro lost to Shuai Peng RND 2
26 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni lost to Carina Witthoeft RND 1
27 Ana Konjuh v Dominika Cibulkova [8] RND 3
28 Lauren Davis lost to Varvara Lepchenko RND 1
29 Daria Kasatkina lost to Anett Kontaveit RND 2
30 Shuai Zhang lost to Viktorija Golubic RND 1
31 Roberta Vinci lost to Kristyna Pliskova RND 1
32 Lucie Safarova lost to Shelby Rogers RND 2
Round three starts tomorrow, where the ladies will be vying for a place in the second week of the championships. The big matches include Azarenka vs Watson on Centre, Konta vs Sakkari on Court One followed by Williams Vs Osaka. Look to Court 12 however for what we perceive to be a close contest. The scrappy Cibulkova takes on bright spark Ana Konjuh, and although the Slovak might go into this bout as the favourite, expect a fight from Konjuh, we can’t wait.