In a battle of major champions, Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic upset the fifth seed and 2026 French Open champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Wednesday. We could see a fine for Andreeva, as the 19-year-old threw her racquet toward the umpire’s chair after the defeat.
Andreeva is the second top five singles seed to be knocked out of Wimbledon so far. On the men’s side, American Ben Shelton was knocked out of the first round on Tuesday when he was beaten by Otto Virtanen of Finland in five sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6.
Despite winning two major titles in the past (2021 French Open and 2024 Wimbledon), Krecjikova is unseeded at Wimbledon as she is ranked 38th in the world. On Wednesday a major reason for her success was because of the serve. Krejcikova had nine aces and Andreeva had five aces.
You could make the argument that Krejcikova had a statement win on Wednesday, when you consider who she was facing. Krejcikova will next face fellow Czech player Nikola Bartunkova in the third round.
In other action this week, Elena Rybakina, the second seed from Kazakhstan, and two time grand slam champion (2022 Wimbledon and 2026 Australian Open), defeated an opponent that has gone far in a grand slam in the past. Rybakina defeated 2015 French Open semifinalist Lois Boisson on France in three tough sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Meanwhile on Thursday, six-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek of Poland defeated two-time grand slam finalist Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 in the second round, and in an All-American battle, two-time grand slam finalist and number six seed Amanda Anisimova beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6. Meanwhile, American Coco Gauff won the last six points in the third set tiebreak to beat Argentina’s Solana Sierra 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 in the second round.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic, the 24-time grand slam champion, was sensational in the second round at age 39. He defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, the two-time grand slam finalist, very easily by a score of 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.
