 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Argentine Guido Pella pulled off a major upset at Wimbledon on Friday, beating fourth seed and 2018 finalist Kevin Anderson in straight sets to reach the last-16 of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The 29-year-old, who beat the big-serving South African 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(4), will play Canada’s Milos Raonic next for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I don’t know how to describe this moment,” an emotional Pella said. “This match was unbelievable for me. I was focussed the entire match and it was amazing.
“My mind is in the right place. I’m playing much more aggressively than previous years. I’m confident. I just need to continue to fight for every point.
“To be in the second week is an unbelievable feeling.”
Anderson, runner-up to Novak Djokovic last year, arrived at the All England Club after an injury-hit season due to a troublesome right elbow and his serve-and-volley game was derailed by a lack of sharpness at key moments.
Pella, the 26th seed, made a nervy start, saving two break points in his opening service game on Centre Court before settling into his stride.
He kept the 6ft 8in (2.03 metres) Anderson, the tallest man to play a Wimbledon final, guessing with a dizzying array of shots, including his backhand slice, and made 13 unforced errors compared to 29 from his opponent.
There was little to choose between the two in the opening set until Anderson’s first serve deserted him with the score level at 5-5.
Anderson had reached the third round without his serve being broken, but Pella turned the screws at the right moment, converting his fourth set point to claim the opener when the South African netted a forehand.
That rattled Anderson, who came out swinging at the start of the second set, but the 33-year-old’s timing was off and Pella broke again to race into a 3-0 lead.
Anderson clawed a break back when Pella sent a backhand volley wide with the court at his mercy, but the Argentine broke again and served out the set to take a 2-0 lead.
Anderson, who hit 14 aces and 40 winners, fought on grimly to send the third set into a tiebreak, but Pella kept his composure, winning a stunning exchange of volleys that brought the crowd to its feet to earn two match points before claiming the biggest win of his career.
Raonic outserves Opelka in battle of the big men
Canadian 15th seed Milos Raonic emerged a relatively easy winner from the battle of the big men on Friday when he outgunned American Reilly Opelka in straight sets to advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Opelka, 21, was very much in the mix against the 2016 runner-up as the first set went to a tie break but once that convincingly went the way of the favourite, Raonic took command to triumph 7-6 (1) 6-2 6-1 in a surprisingly rapid one hour and 41 minutes.
Wimbledon debutant Opelka upset Stan Wawrinka in the previous round when much of the focus was on his 6ft 11in (2.10m) height. But with Raonic measuring in at 6ft 5in (1.95m) suddenly the x-factor was no more.
The American had three break points in the fourth game of the first set but failed to convert any of them, and that proved to be the high-water mark of his day.
In the second set he double-faulted to hand Raonic the first break of the match and a 4-2 lead, and from then on Opelka looked off the pace and won only one of the next nine games.
Raonic, who closed out the match with an ace, won 93 percent of his first-serve points, in comparison with the 58 percent of Opelka.
Djokovic survives hurricane Hurkacz
When Novak Djokovic stood with hand on hips midway through the second set tiebreak, glaring down at young Polish upstart Hubert Hurkacz, he could scarcely believe the drama unfolding before his eyes in his third round Wimbledon showdown.
The world number one was caught up by hurricane Hurkacz as he came off second best in all the razzle-dazzle shots the 22-year-old could throw at him and he was also banned from wearing his baseball cap by the umpire as it fell foul of Wimbledon's all-white rules.
However, Djokovic has not come to be known as Mr Consistency for nothing as he survived all the hullabaloo to reach the last 16 for the 12th time at the grasscourt major with a 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 win.
"I congratulate Hubert for putting a great effort today," said four-times champion Djokovic, who will meet Canadian tyro Felix Auger-Aliassime or France's Ugo Humbert.
"He was fighting, he was playing well, serving well, hitting clean and accurate shots from the back of the court and it was a great fight the first couple of sets.
"Credit to him for playing high quality tennis because I really enjoyed it.
"I played a perfect third set and a solid fourth set and I am pleased with the performance."
Zhang Shuai sends Wozniacki packing
At first it had all looked so good for former world number one Caroline Wozniacki at Wimbledon on Friday.
The newly-wed Dane raced into a 4-0 lead over China's Zhang Shuai in their third round clash on Court Two. But that was as good as it got. From there she slipped, via a rambling, rumbling grumble about Hawk-Eye, to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat.
"I thought there was a few ones that I saw way differently," the 28-year-old said, referring to her ongoing irritation with the line-call verification system.
"But it is what it is. You can't really change a Hawk-Eye call. You just have to move on, know what it is. That's really it. I mean, at this point it doesn't matter. It is what it is. Maybe the Hawk-Eye was right. Maybe I just saw it wrong. I don't know.
"Obviously when you think you've won the point and then have to replay, that can be frustrating."
More frustrating, however, must have been letting slip such a commanding lead with barely a whimper.
In her last tournament she had let slip a 5-2 final set lead to lose to Aryna Sabalenka at Eastbourne.
Zhang will next face Dayana Yastremska, who beat Viktorija Golubic 7-5, 6-3 for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Pliskova uses 'amazing' serve to see off tricky Hsieh
Former world number one Karolina Pliskova served superbly to beat Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 and reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the second time.
Czech third seed Pliskova fired down 14 aces on Court One to counter the unorthodox Hsieh's fast feet and soft hands, securing victory in an hour and 46 minutes.
"I thought my serve was amazing today... I'd love to call myself a specialist on grass," Pliskova said. "This year I'm doing better and I've made the second week.
"On grass she's a very tough opponent, she's done a good job the past couple of months and I'm just super pleased that I've made it," added Pliskova, who lost to Hsieh in Dubai this year.
"There's nobody like this playing any more in the draw so I think I'll feel much better in the next match after this test," Pliskova added.
Both players started the opening set strongly before an unusually untidy game by world number 16 Hsieh allowed Pliskova to claim a break for a 5-3 lead.
That was the opening the 27-year-old needed as she switched gears and closed out the set with her sixth ace.
Hsieh responded with an early break in the second set to race 4-2 ahead and the 33-year-old Taiwanese saved four break points in the seventh game before taking the match into a decider.
Pliskova, who beat last year's Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the Eastbourne final last week, put Hsieh on the back foot with searing groundstrokes early in the third set to break for a 3-1 lead.
Appearing less rattled by Hsieh's variations as the match wore on, Pliskova staved off a late comeback attempt by Hsieh to close out victory.
Up next for Pliskova is Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova, who beat 20th seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6(7), 6-3.
Chilled Halep catches fire to dispatch Azarenka
Simona Halep was supposedly having a 'chill' year, but for a little over an hour on Wimbledon's Centre Court the ice-cool Romanian was on fire as she swatted aside Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-1 to reach the fourth round.
Halep's form has understandably dipped since she won the French Open last year to lift the weighty millstone of several Grand Slam final failures and she said her intention in 2019 was to mentally ease off the accelerator.
Yet any suggestion that her hunger had diminished was emphatically dispelled as she absorbed everything Azarenka could muster and then dismantled her fellow former world number one to progress for the loss of four games.
That statistic was all the more remarkable considering Azarenka, ranked 40th in the world, had broken in the fourth game of the first set to take a 3-1 lead, a commanding advantage that was comprehensively erased as the seventh-ranked Halep won six straight games.
The Belarusian's frustrations boiled over as she slammed her racket into the turf, receiving a code violation from the umpire, before she fell to her knees with head in hands after smacking a simple put-away into the net.
Azarenka, who had dispatched her second-round opponent by winning 12 consecutive games, made only one further mark on the scoreboard against Halep, to level at 1-1 in the second set, before the Romanian put her foot to the floor to win five games on the bounce.
She brought up three match points with a precise midcourt dropshot and, after spurning the first, put Azarenka out of her on-court misery, when the Belarusian netted a return.
Next up for Halep is a potentially mouth-watering clash with Cori Gauff, providing the 15-year-old American can get past Polona Hercog.
Not that Halep will be paying much attention.
"My coach is going to watch this match," she said. "I will recover my body and just chill. I have a day off. I don't look at the draw. I just take it match by match."
