Wimbledon: Djokovic and Swiatek sovereign in round 2

The Serb, who could draw level with record holder Roger Federer with an eighth Wimbledon win, fell early with a break against Argentinian clay specialist Pedro Cachin but easily won 6:3.6:3.7:6(4). The number one for women, Iga Swiatek, also easily progressed.

Wet lawn

The record champion at Grand Slam tournaments did not lose his rhythm even when it rained. Because the roof over Center Court was closed too late when it started to rain, the game was interrupted for more than an hour. The lawn in the most famous tennis stadium in the world had become too wet to be able to quickly continue the match under the closed roof.

Djokovic helped

Djokovic lent a hand himself and wiped the lawn with a towel. In addition, tournament employees tried to dry the wet areas with leaf blowers. At the time of the stoppage, Djokovic had just won the first set. “Of course it was a bit frustrating for everyone, but the conditions weren’t ideal. It was a bit strange, I usually come out with rackets and not towels,” said Djokovic, laughing. “But I hope you had some fun,” said the big favorite, who now faces Australia’s Jordan Thompson (ATP-70).

Ruud with “wobbler”

One of his challengers, the Norwegian Casper Ruud, had a harder time. Against French qualifier Laurent Lokoli, number 199 in the world, the fourth-seeded 24-year-old gave up a set but eventually won 6-1 5-7 6-4 6-3. Next opponent is wildcard Liam Broady (GBR), Ruud has not made it past the second round in four attempts at Wimbledon.

The number eight, Jannik Sinner, did his job very easily. Late in the evening, the 21-year-old South Tyrolean swept the Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo in just 89 minutes with 6: 2.6: 2.6: 2 from Center Court, which was floodlit at the time.

Even before that, Andrei Rublev was the first Russian to qualify for the second round. The number seven of the tournament dispatched the Australian Max Purcell with 6:3.7:5.6:4. Rublev is one of 17 players from Russia and Belarus competing in the singles tennis classic.

A year ago, Wimbledon was the only tournament that banned the participation of players from both countries because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. As a result, the player organizations ATP and WTA did not award any world ranking points for Wimbledon and also penalized the tournament. As on the tours, players are not allowed to play under their national flag and must sign a declaration that they do not support the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition, they are not allowed to receive any state aid from the two countries.

Swiatek without problems

For women, however, the number one had no problems. Iga Swiatek didn’t give Zhu Lin a chance at 6:1,6:3 and converted her first match point after 80 minutes. This game was also briefly interrupted due to rain and was then continued under closed roof. The Polish French Open winner had to give up last week at the WTA tournament in Bad Homburg because of illness before her semifinals. At the start of Wimbledon, the world number one made a good impression again. “Luckily it wasn’t food poisoning. I feel good,” said Swiatek after her win.

The American Jessica Pegula, who was seeded number four, also made it through, albeit with much more difficulty. It was only after 2:20 hours that she prevailed against her compatriot Lauren Davis with 6:2,6:7(8),6:3.

The seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams was not lucky in her wildcard appearance. The 43-year-old, who had been struggling with a thigh injury for the past six months and only played five games on the tour this year, lost to Elina Switolina (UKR) 4:6,3:6.

Grabher match canceled

Julia Grabher’s first-round appearance was interrupted on Monday evening due to nightfall and postponed to Tuesday. At this point, the Vorarlberg native was one set behind the favored American Danielle Collins (4:6). It is only the fourth main round game for the 27-year-olds at major level.