WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — The Latest from Wimbledon (all times local):
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6:50 p.m.
Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep reached the third round at this year’s tournament, and ended Kirsten Flipkens singles career in the process.
Halep came from a break down in both sets to win 7-5, 6-4 against the 36-year-old Belgian, who has said this will be her last singles tournament. Halep trailed 5-2 in the first set and 4-1 in the second before reeling off five straight games both times.
Halep is playing at Wimbledon for the first time since winning the title in 2019. She missed last year’s tournament with an injury and the 2020 edition was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Flipkens is also playing in the Wimbledon singles draw for the first time since 2019 and has now exited in the second round in her last six appearances. She laid down to kiss the grass after the match and then received an embrace from Halep at the net.
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6 p.m.
Brandon Nakashima of the United States knocked 13th-seeded Denis Shapovalov out of Wimbledon, beating the Canadian 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6).
Shapovalov reached the semifinals at the All England Club last year, his best result at a Grand Slam tournament.
Nakashima matched his best result at a major tournament by reaching the third round. He advanced to the same stage at this year’s French Open.
Nakashima, who is ranked 56th in the world, will next face Daniel Elahi Galan. The Colombian advanced to the third round when Roberto Bautista Agut withdrew from the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19.
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5:55 p.m.
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek took her winning streak to 37 matches by beating Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
Swiatek won on No. 1 Court to make her winning run the longest since Martina Hingis also won 37 matches in a row in 1997.
This victory, though, was far from easy for the Polish player — despite facing a player ranked 138th.
Swiatek had to save two break points in the opening game of the third set, then secured the decisive breakthrough with a slice of luck. At 2-1, Swiatek earned a break point when her Dutch opponent deliberately let a shot fly past her at the net, thinking it would sail long. However, it landed inside the baseline, and Swiatek then hit a forehand winner on the next point to break for a 3-1 lead.
Swiatek won her second French Open title this month but has never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
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3:40 p.m.
Katie Boulter upset 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
The 118th-ranked British player rallied to win 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 against the hard-serving Pliskova, who lost last year’s final to Ash Barty.
The 25-year-old Boulter also beat Pliskova last week at a warmup tournament in Eastbourne for her first win against a top-10 player. She broke for a 5-4 lead in the final set and converted her first match point with a volley winner.
Pliskova’s powerful serve looked far from its best throughout the match as she mixed 13 aces with eight double-faults and was broken four times.
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3:25 p.m.
Former French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas is into the third round of Wimbledon for just the second time, setting up a meeting with Nick Kyrgios at the grass-court Grand Slam.
The fourth-seeded Greek beat Jordan Thompson of Australia 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court. He broke Thompson in the final game to clinch the win on his third match point when the Australian sent a shot long.
It’s the first time since 2018 that Tsitispas is into the third round at Wimbledon, having lost in the first round last year and 2019. He reached the fourth round in 2018 for his career-best result at the All England Club.
Tsitsipas, who lost last year’s French Open final to Novak Djokovic, will next face Kyrgios in a matchup of hard hitters.
“It’s going to be a challenging one on grass for sure,” Tsitsipas said about facing Kyrgios. “He’s a big opponent for this surface.”
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2:20 p.m.
Nick Kyrgios reached the third round at Wimbledon with a performance that made sure his tennis was the only talking point this time.
Kyrgios beat 26th-seeded Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 on No. 2 Court, showing off an array of shot-making that included 50 winners, 24 aces and a couple of crowd-pleasing “tweeners.”
Kyrgios never faced a break point and looked fully focused throughout the match, without getting into any major arguments with the chair umpire or the crowd — although he did berate one fan for coughing during the second set.
After needing five sets to beat Paul Jubb in the first round, the volatile Australian spit in the direction of a spectator he said had been hassling him.
Kyrgios said his first-round match had been surprisingly difficult and that this time “I just wanted to remind everyone that I’m pretty good.”
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1 p.m.
Roberto Bautista Agut has withdrawn from Wimbledon after testing positive for COVID-19.
The 17th-seeded Spaniard was scheduled to play Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia in the second round at the All England Club.
“I was positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, the symptoms aren’t very bad, but I think it’s the best decision,” Bautista Agut wrote on Twitter.
Bautista Agut’s coach, Tomas Carbonell, wrote on Twitter that they decided to withdraw “out of respect to his colleagues and to the tournament.”
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12:50 p.m.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advanced to the third round by beating Ana Bogdan 6-1, 7-6 (5).
Kvitova led 5-1 in the second set and had her first match point while serving at 5-4, but she converted the second when Bogdan sent a backhand into the net.
Kvitova won the title at the All England Club in 2011 and 2014. She was then attacked in her home in 2016 and suffered knife injuries to her playing left hand. She later had surgery and needed more than five months to recover.
The 25th-seeded Czech, who came into the tournament after winning the grass-court tune-up at Eastbourne, will next face Paula Badosa. The fourth-seeded Spaniard defeated Irina Bara 6-3, 6-2.
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11 a.m.
Rafael Nadal, Coco Gauff and 2021 runner-up Karolina Pliskova are all scheduled to play second-round matches on Centre Court on Day 4 at Wimbledon.
Top-seeded Iga Swiatek is also in action.
The sixth-seeded Pliskova will face British player Katie Boulter in the first match in the main stadium. Then it’s second-seeded Nadal against Ricardas Berankis. The Spaniard has won the past two Grand Slam tournaments as part of his 22 major titles overall.
The 11th-seeded Gauff then faces Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania. The 18-year-old American was runner-up at the French Open earlier this month.
Swiatek, the champion at Roland Garros, puts her 36-match winning streak on the line against Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove of the Netherlands. They’ll play on No. 1 Court.
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The Associated Press
