The major story over the first five days of Wimbledon this week has been the rain. The tournament has been a nightmare for organizers to date, as it has been significantly challenging getting all matches on schedule. But over the last two days the sun has come out, and as we approach the weekend, we are finally where we are supposed to be.
Third round action is in full swing, and there is one Australian left in the singles draw. That is the 73rd ranked player in the world, Christopher O’Connell of Sydney.
O’Connell had his first round match on Tuesday on court nine. There he beat Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The major story in this match came down to unforced errors. O’Connell only had 25 compared to 50 for Medjedovic. Then in the second round on Friday, O’Connell won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 over Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic. Unforced errors were the big story in this match as well. O’Connell had only 15, while Vesely had 36.
In all, five Australians reached the second round on the men’s side. In addition to O’Connell, Jordan Thompson of Sydney and Aleksandar Vukic of Sydney, the 15th seed Alex de Minaur of Sydney, and Jason Kubler of Brisbane won their first round matches. Even though de Minaur was seeded, it was not a huge surprise he lost to Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the second round, when you consider the fact Berretini reached the 2021 Wimbledon final.
O’Connell will next face Christopher Eubanks of the United States on Saturday. This will be their first ever meeting. Eubanks was one of the top stories on Friday, as he stunned the 12th seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6.
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