Wimbledon – Day 4 Wrap-up

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.