Wimbledon: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Kvitova advance

LONDON: Top seed Carlos Alcaraz cantered into the third round at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-3 win over 84th-ranked Alexandre Muller on Friday, putting on an entertaining if error-strewn performance for an appreciative Centre Court crowd.

Frenchman Muller, 26, who has spent most of his professional career on the second-tier challenger circuit, took advantage of his 20-year-old opponent producing an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors, 41 in all.

But the smiling young Spaniard’s all-round game, a mixture of power and exquisite touch tennis, was just too strong for the 84th-ranked Muller.

After breaking serve in the seventh game, Alcaraz won the first set on his fourth set point with a big serve.

He raced into a 6-0 lead in the second-set tiebreak before conceding a couple of points then winning it with a glorious half-volley.

Alcaraz, who made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, produced a searing passing shot to break serve in the ninth game of the final set and wrapped up the match on his own serve with a forehand winner.

Last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist Jannik Sinner recovered from a sluggish start to beat unseeded Frenchman Quentin Halys 3-6,6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and move into the fourth round.

Daniil Medvedev advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Friday after their match was suspended due to bad light the previous day.

Third seed Medvedev was on the brink of victory on Thursday evening before Mannarino staged a late fightback to level the third set at 4-4 and take the match into a second day.

The world number 35 continued to keep pace with the Russian, who has never advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Club.

Medvedev clinched the tiebreak when the left-handed Mannarino sent a forehand long and the Russian will next play American Marcos Giron or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.

Twice former champion Petra Kvitova cruised into the third round, the ninth seed brushing aside the limited challenge of Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-2 on a sun-drenched Court Two.

The 33-year-old Czech, who triumphed in 2011 and 2014, has got past the third round only once since her second victory but did not need to be anywhere near her best in a match full of errors, most of them from Sasnovich, who has never gone beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam in 10 years of trying.

Kvitova warmed up for Wimbledon with a grasscourt title in Berlin and though they traded early breaks, the Czech always looked to be on top and broke for 4-2, with Sasnovich dropping serve again, finishing with a double fault, to lose the first set.

The Belarusian, sporting full length white leggings, briefly perked up to break for 1-1 in the second but it did not last as the error count remained high in the face of Kvitova’s deep and accurate groundstrokes and the favourite cruised home in 74 minutes.

"It’s always difficult to play her, always a battle, and I’m happy that somehow I found a way and I’m through," said Kvitova, who his the fifth-highest earning female player with almost 37 million dollars banked.

"I really enjoyed the it. You never know how long you can play but I wish it never ends – all the support is always amazing.”

Danish sixth seed Holger Rune dazzled a packed crowd on Wimbledon's Court Three as he beat Spain's Roberto Carlos Baena to reach the third round. The charismatic 20-year-old produced his full repertoire of silky shot-making to win 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Rune became only the fourth Dane to reach the men's third round at Wimbledon and the first for nearly 20 years.

"He made it very difficult and didn't give me anything for free, but I think I managed to raise my level and close to the end I got unbelievable support from the crowd," Rune, who twice had to recover service breaks in the opening set, said on court.

"I love getting the fans involved, it was unbelievable, really cool and I hope we can bring it all the way."

Rune's game style and casual demeanour have made him a hit with young fans who chanted "Ruuuuune" at regular intervals, and he responded with some exquisite winners and won many points with cunningly disguised drop shots.

In an exciting match of second round, 5th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Andy Murray 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk reached the Wimbledon third round for the first time after her Spanish opponent Paula Badosa retired with an injury during their match on Friday.

The 21-year-old Kostyuk was leading 6-2, 1-0 when Badosa pulled out with a back problem.

Badosa, the 25-year-old girlfriend of Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas who will renew his battle with Andy Murray later on Friday, missed the French Open due to a spinal stress fracture.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka beat Varvara Gracheva 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the third round.

In other second round matches, Bianca Andreescu beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-2, 4-6, 7-6, Dalma Gálfi beat Jule Niemeier 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Madison Brengle 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, Madison Keys beat Viktorija Golubic 7-5, 6-3, Anna Blinkova beat Irina -Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-3, Natalija Kostic beat Tamara Korpatsch 7-5, 7-5. Moreover, Lesia Tsurenko beat Ana Bogdan 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 to reach the fourth round.

In men’s section, 8th seed Jannik Sinner beat Quentin Halys 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.

In second round matches, Nicolas Jarry beat Jason Kubler 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Boticvande Zandschulp 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, Hubert Hurkacz beat Lorenzo Musetti 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, Matteo Berrettini beat Alexde Minaur 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, Christopher O'Connell beat Jirí Vesely 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, Alexander Bublik beat Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-1, 7-6, Christopher Eubanks beat Cameron Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6. Agencies

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