Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic survives spirited challenge, Jessica Pegula dumped out by Xinyu Wang

LONDON: Even though Novak Djokovic was nursing a dodgy right knee, toppling him at Wimbledon was never going to be easy for a Briton ranked 277th and so it proved as the Serb huffed and puffed into the third round with a 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5 win over Jacob Fearnley.

The wildcard, who was ranked outside the world’s top 500 just a month ago before shooting up almost 250 spots after winning a second tier Challenger event in Nottingham, will take away many memorable moments from his Centre Court debut.

He is unlikely to forget the high-risk, high-reward strategy he employed in the final game of the third set, which ended with Djokovic hacking a forehand wide to surrender his serve and the set - to the delight of the hollering crowd.

But all the heroics from a journeyman Scot, who until this week had never won a main tour match or even competed at a Grand Slam, were simply not enough to tame a player chasing a record-extending 372nd Grand Slam match win.

A forehand winner sealed Djokovic his passage into round three and kept him on course to win a record 25th Grand Slam title.

Women's world number one Iga Swiatek marched into the third round as she earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over Petra Martic.

It was a well-fought first set where Swiatek prevailed in the end. Martic made Swiatek work hard initially in the second set but the Pole rallied back to claim victory.

The U.S. Stars and Stripes fluttered feebly for Jessica Pegula at Wimbledon as the fifth seed was ousted in the second round by China's Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-7(9) 6-1 on American Independence Day.

The Chinese player blasted 38 winners which, combined with 33 unforced errors from Pegula, secured victory and a third round match-up against Harriet Dart who beat fellow Briton Katie Boulter in a tense three-set thriller.

For Wang, world number 42, the victory was her first over a top 10 player.

"Couple of days ago I was asking my coach when will this happen," Wang said. "Jessica was really tough to play on grass. Her ball was super low and I'm just really happy I won in the end."

For Pegula the loss was an ignominious crash back to earth on the back of some great form heading into the grass court Grand Slam.

Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz became the third men's top-eight player to make an early exit as he retired from his second-round clash against Frenchman Arthur Fils with a knee injury. Having made a slow start, Hurkacz was on course to level the match at two sets apiece when he dived for a volley at the net in the fourth set tiebreak to go 8-7 up, but landed badly and stayed on the turf to receive treatment on his right knee.

Hurkacz limped on after a lengthy medical timeout before producing another desperate dive shortly after, but his movement was severely hampered.

He threw in the towel at 7-6(2), 6-4, 2-6, 6-6 having gone down 9-8 in the tie-break.

Fils's 37-year-old compatriot Monfils joined him in advancing after beating three-times Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka 7-6(5), 6-4, 7-6(3) in a match that began on Wednesday.

World number one Jannik Sinner survived an all-Italian Centre Court dogfight against Matteo Berrettini to book his place in the third round late on Wednesday.

Sinner edged the opening two sets on tie-breaks under the closed roof but was rocked on his heels by a Berrettini fightback before prevailing 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(4).

Berrettini, who was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2021 but plagued by injuries last year and is now ranked down at 59th, looked capable of dragging the match into a decider with some heavy-metal tennis.

Sinner was wobbling when some scrappy groundstroke errors meant he went a break down early in the fourth set, but he managed to wrestle back control in the nick of time.

Berrettini saved a match-point when serving at 5-6 in the fourth set and belted away a forehand to set up the third tie-break of an absorbing tussle.

The 22-year-old Sinner, who extended his record against fellow Italians to 14-0, will continue his quest to add the Wimbledon title to this year's Australian Open against Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic on Friday.

Emma Raducanu reached the third round of women's singles at the home Grand Slam with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 victory over Elise Mertens while her namesake Emma Navarro eased past former World No.1 Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-1.

The match between Raducanu and Mertens was on No.1 Court, Wimbledon’s second-largest venue, played under a closed roof. Born 21 years ago in Toronto, Canada, Raducanu moved with her family to England when she was two years old. Having come through the ranks of British tennis, she shot into the limelight by winning the US Open as a teenager.

In other second round matches on Thursday, Taylor Fritz beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 15th seed Holger Rune beat Thiago Seyboth Wild 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, Alejandro Tabilo beat Flavio Cobolli  7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, Roman Safiullin beat Tomas Machac 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, Lorenzo Musetti beat Luciano Darderi 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, Alexei Popyrin beat Tomás Martín Etcheverry 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, Denis Shapovalov beat  Daniel Altmaier 7-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-7, 6-4, Grigor Dimitrov beat Shang Juncheng 5-7, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, Ben Shelton beat Lloyd Harris 4-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

In women’s section, Bernarda Pera beat Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, Elina Svitolina beat Jule Niemeier 6-3, 6-4, Danielle Collins beat Dalma Gálfi 6-3, 6-4, 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko beat Daria Snigurbeat 6-3, 6-0, 10th seed Ons Jabeur beat Robin Montgomery 6-1, 7-5, Anna Kalinskaya beat Marie Bouzková 6-4, 6-1, Harriet Dart beat KatieBoulter 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, Daria Kasatkina beat Yuriko Miyazaki 6-0, 6-0, Barbora Krejcíková beat Katie Volynets 7-6, 7-6, 12th seed Madison Keys beat Wang Yafanto 6-2, 6-2, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Cristina Buca 7-6, 6-3, Paula Badosa beat Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-4, 6-2, Yulia Putintseva beat Katerina Siniaková 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, Marta Kostyuk beat Daria Saville 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 to reach the third round. Agencies

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