Turmoil reigned on the fourth day at Wimbledon.
Liam Brodie, a 29-year-old Briton who grew up four hours away from London in Stockport, England, had the most shocking victory over 4 seed Casper Ruud in the second round. brody, 142nd ranked ATP player in the world, he won the opening frame before falling the next two to his Norwegian rival. Brody fought back, though, winning the final two sets to seal victory – his first match over a top 10 player – 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Then, ninth seed Taylor Fritz, who went into the 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinals, blew a two-set lead to unseeded Mikael Ymir. Fritz lost three straight sets to Ymir, who pulled off an incredible victory 2-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. It would be the farthest the 24-year-old Swede has advanced at Wimbledon.
Earlier in the day, two sides of the age spectrum of professional tennis caused turmoil as well.
Mira Andreeva, the 16-year-old Russian who made her WTA debut in 2022, becomes Mira Andreeva. Third youngest player to reach the third round At Wimbledon in the Open Era after she advanced over 10th seed Barbora Krejkova. Andreeva led 6-3 4-0 before Krejkova retired in the second set.
Meanwhile, 38-year-old Stan Wawrinka has reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2020 after he upset No. 29 seed Thomas Martin Echeverri outside Argentina. Wawrinka – who is 15 years older than Echeverri – won the opening set, dropped the second set but cruised through the final two frames to win 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
If you want to feel old, Wawrinka had already competed in 12 Grand Slam tournaments — including two at Wimbledon — before Andreeva was born in 2007.
Wawrinka will now face Novak Djokovic, something Wawrinka joked about in his post-match interview.
So while Andreeva may be the future of women’s tennis, Wawrinka proved on Thursday that he can still play a lot with the younger generation on the men’s team.
How did the Americans do?
While Fritz’s bid for Wimbledon ended in defeat, the other 10-times-ranked American, Frances Tiafoe, stayed in the running with a three-set victory over Dominic Stefan Stricker. But it wasn’t a walk in the park. Tiafoe and Stricker battled in an intense opening set that included a 24-point tiebreaker. Tiafoe grabbed the edge to take the set and win 7-6 (13-11), 6-4, 6-2.
No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula advanced to the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Christina Bokoa.
Tommy Paul, another player ranked 20th, won his match against Milos Raonic. The 16th seed, Paul, won the first two sets, lost the third and took the final frame to advance. Final score: 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4.
Other Americans—including Fritz—didn’t fare so well:
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Sloane Stephens lost to No. 20 Donna Vekic in three sets, 6-4, 4-7, 4-6.
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Danielle Collins fell to 14th seed Belinda Bencic in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10-2).
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No. 32 Ben Shelton lost to Laslo Djeer, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (5-7), 3-6.
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Sofia Kenin beat Wang Xinyu in straight sets 6-4 6-3.
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JG Wolf lost to 23rd seed Alexander Bublik in three sets. Wolfe had a chance to steal a frame when he forced a second-set tiebreaker, but he couldn’t pull off the win. Bublik’s final tally ended up winning 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.
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Michael Moh won 15 matches, but never lost a game against Maximilian Marterer. Germany won 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
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Alicia Parks lost to Anna Bogdan. Although Parkes won the first frame, Bogdan managed to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Other disturbances noted
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Elise Mertens fell to Elina Svitolina in three sets. Svitolina, the unseeded Ukrainian, powered through the opening set, then faltered in the second set only to bounce back strongly in the third and final frame. Svitolina defeated 28th seed Mertens outside Belgium 6-1 1-6 6-1. Svitolina recently reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, but hasn’t advanced to the semifinals of any major tournament since she did at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019.
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Markéta Vondroušová shocked No. 12 Veronika Kudrmitova by winning in straight sets. Vondrousova, the 24-year-old Czech, has never advanced past the second round at Wimbledon. She won 6-3, 6-3.
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Julie Neemeyer, a year after her quarter-final appearance at last year’s Wimbledon, is looking to repeat the performance after upsetting 16th seed Karolina Muchová, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1.
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Unseeded Jiri Lischka defeated 18th seed Francesco Sirondolo in three sets: 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Other notable results
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Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the No. 3 seed, beat Alizée Cornet in straight sets that included a furious tie-breaker in the second frame. Rybakina won 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).
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World No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev bounced back after losing the opening set to defeat Aslan Karatsev in four sets, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
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No. 5 seed Caroline Garcia defeated Leila Annie Fernandez in three sets. Garcia fell in the first frame but won the last two, winning 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-6).
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Alexander Zverev struggled, after a semi-final appearance at the French Open, to beat Gijs Brouwer in three sets. Zverev won 6-4 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) to advance to the second round.
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Former world No. 2 player Anett Kontaveit is officially retiring after falling to No. 32 Marie Bouzkova, 1-6, 2-6. The 27-year-old Kontaveit announced in June that she was quitting tennis after she was diagnosed with lumbar disc degeneration in her back.
Highlight of the day
Brody grabbed a powerful shot in his match against Ruud against his country:
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