The developments at Wimbledon on Wednesday included Novak Djokovic joining Roger Federer and Serena Williams as the only players in tennis history to win 350 Grand Slam matches; a runner-up two years ago, Karolina Pliskova, exiting in the first round against a qualifier; a player seeded No. 8, Maria Sakkari, taking the opening set 6-0 but managing to lose.
Ho-hum. Those turned out to be among the least unusual happenings around the All England Club on Day 3 of this year바카라™s tournament. That바카라™s because so much of the buzz around the place concerned protests and, yes, rain.
Three environmental activists were arrested for interrupting matches by making their way onto court to toss orange confetti 바카라” hidden in boxes for 1,000-piece Centre Court puzzles sold at the tournament merchandise shops 바카라” and attract attention to an anti-oil organization.
바카라śWe바카라™ve had enough disruptions with the weather,바카라ť four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman, a member of the board at the All England Club, said on the BBC broadcast, 바카라śbut to get a disruption like that is disappointing.바카라ť
The showers that were so problematic on Tuesday returned Wednesday, limiting the hours available for competition and making everyone wait and wait and wait.
바카라śToday was a bit weird in the beginning, because there was supposed to be no rain, then it started raining,바카라ť said No. 6 Holger Rune, who eliminated British wild-card entry George Loffhagen 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 in a first-rounder that was originally supposed to be held Tuesday. 바카라śIt was a little bit frustrating at the end.바카라ť
Consider: While four players who got to play at the two arenas with retractable roofs already are into the third round, including Djokovic and the No. 1 woman, Iga Swiatek, there remain 14 entrants who have yet to contest a single point in the first round. That latter group includes 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, 2020 U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev and Karolina Muchova, who lost to Swiatek in last month바카라™s French Open final.
바카라śFor sure, it바카라™s really comfortable,바카라ť Swiatek said after beating Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-0 at Centre Court. 바카라śI바카라™m happy that my matches were scheduled under the roof, so I always was certain that it바카라™s going to actually happen. It바카라™s a little bit easier to prepare knowing that.바카라ť
The others moving into the third round were Jannik Sinner and Daria Kasatkina.
Djokovic, owner of a men바카라™s-record 23 Grand Slam trophies, was two points from dropping the second set against Jordan Thompson before sealing that tiebreaker with an ace, then jutting his right index finger against his temple while strutting to the sideline along the way to winning 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Seeking a record-tying eighth Wimbledon championship, and record-tying fifth in a row, he was on Centre Court 바카라” where he바카라™s won 41 times in a row 바카라” and so did not need to deal with the sorts of stops and starts endured by players such as Americans Taylor Fritz, the No. 9 seed, and Frances Tiafoe, who is No. 10.
Fritz바카라™s first-round match against Yannick Hanfmann of Germany was suspended midway through the fifth set all the way back on Monday and never resumed Tuesday. So Fritz did a lot of stewing until he finally was able to get back on No. 2 Court to wrap up his 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 triumph.
바카라śIt바카라™s tough to kind of just be sitting on that, thinking about it for like two days. You바카라™re potentially (with) 15 minutes left in a match at the very end of it, and for it to be a Grand Slam, fifth set, it kind of adds to it,바카라ť Fritz said. 바카라śI spent most of the time sitting on the bench near my locker in the locker room, just like on my phone, like YouTube videos, whatever. Just killing time.바카라ť
Tiafoe seemed a lot less fussed.
He and Wu Yibing of China were originally due to play Tuesday, but began Wednesday. Tiafoe won 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4.
바카라śIt바카라™s just laughable stuff,바카라ť Tiafoe said. 바카라śI ate a little bit, listened to music, cracked jokes with other players. There바카라™s not really much to do. It바카라™s not like I can go catch a movie or something. I mean, there바카라™s not much going on. Just chilling, honestly.바카라ť
One of the highlights of Tuesday바카라™s schedule 바카라” 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem vs. two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 바카라” got through just 1 1/2 sets that afternoon and so turned into one of the highlights of Wednesday바카라™s schedule.
Wound up going five sets and nearly four hours on No. 2 Court before Tsitsipas delivered one last forehand winner to close out his 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (10-8) win. 바카라śIt was pretty stressful,바카라ť said Tsitsipas, who plays Andy Murray on Thursday. 바카라śI won바카라™t lie.바카라ť
