Key events
Rybakina will play Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the third round – and if she reaches at least the quarter-finals she’s got a chance of ousting Aryna Sabalenka as the world No 1. “I’m trying not to think about it,” Rybakina says on court. “I need to focus on a match at a time. All the opponents are tough, you never know how you’ll wake up each day. But hopefully it happens soon. If not I’ll keep working.”
ShareRybakina defeats McNally 6-1, 6-2
And now let’s whizz over to Centre Court, because Rybakina is serving for the match at 6-1, 5-2 against McNally. Rybakina, the 2022 champion and this year’s Australian Open winner, has never lost before the third round at Wimbledon and that record will surely remain intact this year. She moves to 40-30 after a kamikaze rush to the net by McNally. A simple putaway for Rybakina on match point … and she thwacks into the net! Rybakina’s face hardly ever betrays any emotion, but there’s an eye roll from the second seed there. She quickly regains composure, though, to claim the next two points. Two sets, only three games conceded and 70 minutes played. It doesn’t get much more straightforward than that.
Updated at 14.50 EDT
Thanks Daniel. Another stellar stint. Right, first things first. Some match reports for your perusal:
Righto, that’s my day done; here’s Katy to take you through to the close.
Mensik makes advantage then, in the next rally, Dimitrov either decides he needs to shorten the points or loses patience, swatting a forehand wide, and we’re level at one set all. Does Wa Griggzy have it in him to reverse momentum?
Down 40-0, Dimitrov saves one set point with a forehand winner – he needs more of those – then a terrific volley helps him retrieve the second, Mesik going across the face of the net but wide. Oh, and then responding to a fine sliced return – Griggzy is so, so good at those – he goes long, so to deuce we go.
Yes he can, a backhand return punished line to the corner, and his celebration is as much one of relief as of joy; he’s worked out that he needs to give himself room to attack the body-serve Dimitrov likes to deliver when under pressure and he’ll shortly serve for one set all at 5-4 in the second.
Rybakina has broken McNally at the first time of asking in set two and also consolidated, so she leads 6-1 2-1, while Noskova has taken the first set against Osorio 6-3. Now, back on No 1, Mensik has raised an 11th break point at 6-7 4-4; can’ he finally make it happen?
Noskova, a recent top-1o entrant and former Roland Garros junior champ, is on top against Osorio, up 5-2, while Mensik flows a delightful backhand winner down the line to raise break point at 3-3 in the second. Dimitrov, though, saves it, and from there secures his hold to lead 7-6 4-3; he’s enjoying the battle a fair bit more than how he’s playing.
Linda Noskova plays a return to Camila Osorio. Photograph: Kin Cheung/APShare
Updated at 14.43 EDT
On No 1, we’re on serve in set two. Dimitrov leading Mensik 7-6 3-2; Tiafoe serves out a 6-2 set to level with Choinski at a set apiece, and it feels like class has taken over from form. The Brit started superbly, but might just’ve spent himself in the process.
Rybakina is all over McNally, bousting through a 6-1 first set, while Tiafoe is playing more like himself now, up 4-2 in the second after Choinski dominated and eventually snaffled the first. And, as I type, he secures a double break, and this is a difference, I guess between the elite and the rest: anyone on tour can play well for a bit, but the best have the ability to sustain a level.
Elena Rybakina eyes the ball as she prepares to a return to Caty McNally. Photograph: Jaimi Joy/ReutersShare
Updated at 14.21 EDT
In comms, they’re wondering if this, at 35, is Dimitrov’s last appearance at Wimbledon; I really hope not, because he’s still got so much to give, but of course his body may have had enough, just as he may fancy a change of lifestyle. He needed a wildcard to make it into the competition, but a win here would give him a decent shift up the rankings.
Those two are level at 5-5 in the first, while Bublik leads Jacqeut 6-3 1-4; Mertens leads Timofeeva 3-0 in the third; Lehecka leads Molcan 2-0 2-1 with a break; Cirstea, who did so well in Paris, leads Birrell 6-3 2-1 with a break; Noskova leads Osorio 2-1; Tiafoe leads Choinski 3-2 in the second, with a break but having lost the first; Dimitrov leads Mensik7-6 2-1; and Rybakina leads McNally 4-1.
ShareMaria Sakkari beats Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3 0-6 7-6(7)
Gosh, what a win that is for Sakkari, who survived a bagelling and, the last time we checked in, needed a break to stay in the match. next for her, Paolini or Golubic.
Maria Sakkari eyes a return during her victory over Kamilla Rakhimova. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPASakkari celebrates with her team including partner Konstantinos Mitsotakis. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 14.02 EDT
Cobolli is so much fun – he tosses a towel into the crowd, then signals that’s it – and what a contest he’ll have with Dimitrov or Mensik. His competitive charisma burns through the screen, and though I’m not sure he’ll win a major, I’d love for him to.
OK, so let’s see what Cobolli had to say. He’s really happy his dad’s still here, and it was a tough match against a good opponent.
Today is his trainer’s 10th anniversary, so he congratulates him, saying he’s in time for dinner.
Duckworth, he says, hits very flat which, on grass, makes him hard to break and he didn’t play well, but he’s happy to have won – and it was windy, which isn’t easy. But he’s happy to have the honour to play at Wimbledon and he’s looking forward to the next round.
Busted harvesting towels, he says they’re for his team, before thanking the crowd and the Italian support, saying he didn’t play that well today, but it’s easier with them cheering and he hopes they come for the next round.
Unsurprisingly given the mental dump he must’ve experienced, Choinski is broken in game one of set two, but again, he makes deuce on the Tiafoe serve…
Dimitrov makes 6-5 then, as they slug it out from the back, he’s the one looking to dominate, blocking back the return then slicing hard before moving to the forehand and pushing Mensik over the baseline … until the error comes! That is a burglary, and doesn’t Wa Griggzy love it! He leads by a set, Mensik having burned seven break points while he won none – and yet.
Mensik gets to 4-2 in the breaker then nails an ace, and when Mensik comes in next point, he realises he’s run past the ball and can’t get back at it; 4-4.
Next on Centre: Caty McNally v Elena Rybakina (2).
Updated at 13.35 EDT
Back with Berrettini, he says his career has been great and though he’s had tough moments, he’s back, he’s smiling when he’s playing, it’s a privilege.
Gosh, Choinski forces another opportunity to take the set … and this time, the sixth, he takes it, Tiafoe going long; he must be an exceptionally relieved young man, Thinking to do for the no 17 seed, who’s not been at it so far.
After Tiafoe doubles on game point, Choinski forces another advantage, and can he takes this one? Er no, he cannot, straying long; that’s 10 chances to break forsaken. You just can’t do that at this level, but when Tiafoe forges in front again, he plays a decent rally to restore deuce as the game hits the 10-minute mark; on No 1, Dimitrov serves out to force a first-ert breaker, but Mensik has been easily the better player so faar.
ShareFlavio Cobolli (9) beats James Duckworth 7-6(4) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-1
Cobolli played his best tennis when he needed it, finishing hurling flamethrowers, and he meets Khachanov next, in another banger.
Flavio Cobolli bashes out a backhand during his win over James Duckworth. Photograph: Marko Đurica/ReutersShare
Updated at 13.35 EDT
This time, Choinski finds a decent return but, offered a chance to come in with Tiafoe stranded, he picks the wrong side, a stop-volley does the rest, and back to deuce we go. Back with Cobolli, he now leads 5-1 in the fourth and, serving for the match, makes 40-0; suddenly, he looks unstoppable.
Two big serves, two opportunities to clinch the set averted, then Choinski nets a forehand, and he’s now 0/8 on break points; Tiafoe is 0/0. No matter; a terrible drop is given the treatment, and here comes another opportunity…
Berrettini is very happy, saying the first round was tough for so many reasons, but it was such a nice moment playing against a legend like Stan, four sets like that on No 1, a match he’ll remember for the rest of his life. But he also thinks that this one was pretty special, Centre Court, and it’s been a while since he played there – remember he lost the 20021 final.
He thinks he played a really high-level match – Arthur played well, especially from the baseline and on serve. He’s one of the best in the world and he knew he had to play well to beat him, he found the right energy in the fourth. But let’s interrupt him because Choinski has three set points at 5-4 0-40 against Tiafoe…
Before we hear from the handsome devil, let’s go around the courts. Rakhimova is about to serve for the match against Sakkari, leading 1-1 5-4; Cobolli, who’s enjoying himself, leads Duckworth 2-1 1-2; Mensik leads Dimitrov 5-4on serve; Tiafoe and Choinski are level at 4-4; Lehecka leads Molcan 6-3 2-1 with a break; Bublik leads Jacquet 2-0; and Golubic leads Paolini 1-0 with a break.
ShareMario Berrettini beats Arthur Fils (20) 6-4 7-5 3-6 6-3
After a terrific win over Wawrinka in round one, Berrettini delivers again; he knows his way around a grass court alright, and that backhand slice is a thing of vicious, dangerous beauty; if he had a drive backhand even half as good, he’d be almost unstoppable. Next up: Mensik or Dimitrov, and whichever make it through, it promises to be a bazza.
Matteo Berrettini and Arthur Fils shake hands at the net after Berrettini’s victory. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianShare
Updated at 13.32 EDT
Gosh, with Fils stranded at the net and so many options to finish, Berrettini, lost in the supermarket, dumps a forehand … but an ace down the T gives him advantage, and he’s back to a point away.
Not easily done. A missed forehand and double donate 0-30 … but it’s soon 30-all, a booming serve down the middle raising match point.
Serving to stay in the match, Fils swats a backhand wide for 30-all, and Berrettini is two points from victory. So he unloads on the forehand, two landed on the lines then another leaping beauty gets big on Fils, who can’t react. The match point, though, is saved, whereupon Fils serves out for 3-5; Berrettini will have to serve it out.
Fils plays two wonderful winers, but Berretini still holds, winning the biggest points to lead 2-1 5-2. The question with him, really, is how fit he can stay – he did brilliantly in Paris, but then couldn’t complete his quarter-final, which must be a terrible disappointment. His backhand slice, though, is working beautifully.
A terrific drop secures a 7-6 set an 2-1 lead for Cobolli, a raucous crowd singing his name as he punches air in exhibition style. I watched an interview with his mates during Roland Garros and they talked about how down to earth he is, and that they barely talk about tennis, just about their lives in Rome; he’s a very likeable dude.
Cobolli holds to force a third-set breaker, and when Duckworth nets, he leads 3-2 with a mini-break, then guides a backhand return down the line for 6-2 and four set points. On 2, Choinski has started well, a volley at net earning another break point, confiscated with a big serve; Tiafoe quickly closes out for 2-2.
Excellent work from Duckworth, who secures his hold for 2-1 6-5, while Tiafoe whizzes through deuce to level at 1-1 with Choinski. Berrettini, meanwhile, has taken full command on Centre breaking for 2-1 3-1, and he’ll take some stopping from here. Fils was threatening to break into the elite of the elite when he got injured, but though he’s back, he’s not yet back back.
They’re under way on Centre, Mensik holding for 1-0, while on 2, Choinski holds, then Tiafoe erases break point with an ace, and on 3, a ludicrous backhand pass down the line gives Cobolli 1-2 5-5 0-30 … but an ace quickly levels the game.
Jakub Mensik swipes a backhand to Grigor Dimitrov. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PAShare
Updated at 13.03 EDT
I can’t imagine what that felt like for Wa Griggzy, because he really was playing well enough to make the final having presumably resigned himself, at 34 as he was then, to never doing that. He’s in form again, though, and I’d absolutely love it if he could make it happen this term.
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Dimitrov v Mensik is a helluva contest. Mensik needed five sets to get by GB’s Toby Samuel in round one, but he’s in great form having made the semis in Paris and his game is more suited to grass than clay. Dimitrov, meanwhile, was the leader of the never generation, shut out of everything by the Big Three, but he’s a much better player now than then, and had he not torn a pec when leading Sinner 2-0 in last year’s round four, who knows? And we can sure it stuck with him, partly because he’s a human being, but also because he broke down in tears after winning his first-round match. If he hits the same level, though, he can do anything.
Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianShare
Moving around the courts, Sakkari leads Rakhimova 6-3 0-5; Khachanov leads Hanfmann 6-3 6-4 2-2; and Duckworth leads Cobolli 6-7 6-3 4-3, so I’m going to turn off Fearnley, who’s two sets and a break down to Munar to watch that one.
Next on No 1 Court: Jakub Mensik (15) v Grigor Dimitrov.
Zverev says for two and half sets he played an almost perfect match, then lost a bit of focus and concentration. He’s happy not to have played another set though he loves playing at Wimbledon and isn’t old yet but he’s getting to that point and needs to conserve energy, also noting that wining comfortably is good for your confidence. He loves this tournament but is still waiting for a big result; playing like this, it’s possible this year.
Asked if he has more confidence having won in Paris, he says in tennis you need to have a bad memory, whether good or bad, and though it was a big relief and now he knows he can do it, you have to take each match seriously and play at 100%.
On Centre, Fils has won the third set against Berretttini to trail 4-6 5-7 6-3 and will, imagine, back his fitness to get the job done from here, while Munar has broken Fearnley for 6-4 7-6 2-0.
Next on No 2 Court: Francis Tiafoe (17) v Jan Choinski.
Make no mistake, Anisimova can win this. She’s got the game to beat anyone and finding her best stuff when she needed it most will give her so much confidence. Her v Maddy will be a banger; I’d not like to be a ball in that one.
Anisimova says she went through a lot there – “some moments were really awful” – but she’s happy to be through. “I never thought I’d be saying this but thank you to my serve today. I’m not an amazing server, but now I ca finally say I can serve pretty good.”
Kenin is a tough opponent and a fighter, so she hoes the crowd enjoyed it and thanks them for the love and support. At 3-1 she told herself to keep fighting, this might be her last moment so just have fun – she tries to bring herself to the present moment especially when stressed and remind herself to have fun as she’s playing at Wimbledon. These are the tyyes of matches she trains so hard for, these are the fun ones, the thrillers.
She was starting to get some French Open flashbacks of losing the breaker but the thing with tennis is you only have to experience something once to learn from it and she kept telling herself to do better.
Updated at 12.20 EDT
Alexander Zverev (2) beats Valentin Royer 6-1 6-3 7-6(3)
Another powerful display from the French Open champion. He might’ve got it won sooner, but 2 hr 4 min is no slouching. Next for him: Marcos Giron.
Alexander Zverev prepares to unleash a big serve during his straight sets win over Valentin Royer. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPAShare
Updated at 12.55 EDT
Amanda Anisimova (6) beats Sofia Kenin 6-2 4-6 7-6(3)
Anisimova outlasts Kenin, the full extent of her power on display in the match breaker. Next for her: Madison Keys, and don’t mind if we do.
Amanda Anisimova focuses on a backhand return during her win over Sofia Kenin. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PAShare
Updated at 13.01 EDT
Zverev makes it 5-1 and is two points from victory; the same is so of Anisimova at 8-3, then another unreturned serve takes her to within a point of round three. Kenin has given her loads, as we thought she might, but this has been a dominant breaker.
On No 1, Royer has forced a third-set breaker against Zverev, who leads it 3-1, while Fils is warming to it against Berrettini, up 4-2 though trailing 0-2. Meantime, an Anismova ace, her second of the breaker, gives her 7-2, and this is very impressive indeed.
Thanks Katy and hi again all. The match breaker on No 2 is under way, Anisimova taking an immediate mini-break and, regardless of how this shakes out, I hope it inspires Kenin to rediscover herself. She’s had a dreadful year, losing eight on the spin at one point, but she’s a grand slam champ and so much better that … but she’s down 4-1 and needs something badly. Oh, but Anisimova gets so low to punish an inside-out forehand winner to the corner and at 5-1, she’s five points away.
Right, Daniel is back with you for the next couple of hours. See you later …