Wimbledon Women’s Day 4

Defending champion Elena Rybakina continued her steady progress on Thursday as she beat a patched-up Alize Cornet 6-2, 7-6 (2) for a place in the third round at Wimbledon.

The Kazakh holder needed an hour and three-quarters to move into the third round where she plays British No. 1 Katie Boulter, a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Bulgarian Viktorija Tomova.

Rybakina faced an injured Cornet, who arrived at the court with a right thigh taping and needed a medical timeout at 5-all in the third set for further repairs after sliding on the grass during a fall.

The third seed improved to 12-1 at the tournament.

“I started with good energy,” Rybakina said. “In the second set it became a bit tougher.

“I was not pushing as well with the legs. It was a tough match that I’m happy to win.”

The Kazakh knows she will be the emotional underdog in the next round. 

“I understand that the crowd won’t be on my side, but that’s OK.”

Fourth seed Jessica Pegula moved through with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Spain’s Cristina Busca, a main draw debutante who saved two match points and broke as her opponent served for the match the first time.

Elina Svitolina had few doubts about the success of her return to tennis after giving birth.

The Ukrainian lived up to her own expectations as she reached the third round with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 roller-coaster victory over Belgian Elise Mertens.

The former No. 3 who returned to the WTA in April, and won the Strasbourg title on clay in May.

Svitolina will next face former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over China’s Wang Xinyu.

Keniin is now ranked 128th and had to qualify into the field here; she led 5-1 in the second set but lost serve before nailing the win.

“I expected to play well after playing for so many years in the top level,” Svitolina said. “You want to play on the big stages, win these big matches. 

“But it’s very difficult to come back to your best form, to your best game.”

She then added: “I can’t compare my game to what it was before the pregnancy.

“But there is something new in my game. 

“My mindset is very fresh now, I’m really motivated like never before.”

Lesia Tsurenko joined her Ukrainian compatriot in the third round through a 6-4, 6-1 win over Katerina Siniakova.

2022 surprise quarter-finalist Jule Niemeier beat Karolina Muchova, the Roland Garros runner-up, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, with the Czech suffering from a tumble she took on the grass in the third set.

Rising 16-year-old qualifier Mirra Andreev, who reached the Paris third round  before losing to Coco Gauff, shocked former French Open winner Barbora Krejicova 6-3, 4-0 when the veteran player retired injured.

“It’s my first experience on grass, just my fifth match,” the winner said. “I like the grass so far and I’m not playing that bad.

I’m super happy with my win, but it’s not the way I wanted to win, of course. She (Krejcikova) had some problems with her foot. 

“Of course, I wish her the speedy recovery. I know it’s been
tough for her.”

Victoria Azarenka, whose match was postponed due to Wednesday rain, advanced over Nadia Podoroska with the loss of just three games in an 82-minute victory.

Dangerous Croat Petra Martic, who has reached the fourth round here three times, will line up next against top seed Iga Swiatek after defeating France’s Diane Parry 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Anett Kontaveit, who once ranked second on the WTA, ended her career with a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Czech Marie Bouzkova. The Estonian is retiring at age 27 due to a back injury.

“It’s just a lot of emotions,” she said. “There’s sadness, there’s happiness, there’s a bit of everything.

“The match didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but I was so happy to be able to play in front of so many people, that so many people that love me were able to

see me play for the last time – in singles.”