Tiafoe Leads American Charge on Day Two of Wimbledon

July 3, 2018 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo Credit: Lee Seidner

 

The second day of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships produced some great results for the Americans in both men’s and women’s singles, led by Frances Tiafoe’s upset over 30th seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

Tiafoe booked his spot in the second round with a 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 win on Tuesday. He saved an incredible 13 break points throughout the four sets, and advanced despite actually losing more points than Verdasco in the match.

Bradley Klhan advanced to the second round as he came back from a set down to beat Yuichi Sugita 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-2 for his first main draw win at Wimbledon. Klahn draws 21st seed Briton Kyle Edmund next.

Taylor Fritz also had to come back from down a set down to win his first round match on Monday, and did so to beat Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Fritz moves on to play fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev who looked impressive in a 7-5, 6-2, 6-0 win over James Duckworth.

On the women’s side, Claire Liu knocked off Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3 to advance. Liu won the Girls’ Singles event in London last year and qualified for the main draw this year, parlaying that into a main draw victory.

She takes on former finalist Angelique Kerber. The 11th-seed German knocked off another former Wimbledon finalist, Vera Zvonareva, 7-5, 6-3 in her opening round match on Tuesday.

Jennifer Brady, who powered her way into the U.S. Open fourth round last year, converted on five of her six break point chances to beat Kateryna Kozlova 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-2. Awaiting her in the second round is 28th seed Estonian Anett Kontaveit.

 Taylor Townsend cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Pauline Parmentier to book her spot in the second round, where she will take on Aliaksandra Sasnovich. The Belarusian pulled off a huge upset on Tuesday as she ousted one of the tournament’s favorites, two-time champion and eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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