Day 5 of the women’s singles at Wimbledon was without question the best yet. The weather was perfect, and the players made the most of it with quality and drama from start to finish. Due to the weather of previous days, a mixture of second round and third round matches were played. Petra Kvitova and Aryna Sabalenka were winners in in two and three sets, respectively, with second seed Sabalenka having to work hard for her victory. Read on for which players looked good, who looked bad and which match broke a record.
Wimbledon Day 5 Recap
Who looked good
#1 seed Iga Swiatek and Petra Martic played a fun match on Centre Court, with Swiatek winning 6-2 7-5 in the end. Martic mixed up her game nicely, using different spins and came to the net on 23 occasions. Swiatek managed to stay at a high level throughout the match. She will take big confidence from winning in straight sets against an opponent who played well.
Last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur won easily for the second round in a row, running out a 6-1 6-1 winner against Zhuoxuan Bai to progress to the third round. Although Bai was completely out of sorts, Jabeur did her job competently and professionally, entertaining the crowd with her unique style of play. Her first serve worked a treat once again, winning 87% behind her first delivery.
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia crashed out of the tournament. But it would be wrong to put her in the who looked bad section. She lost an epic match to 32nd seed Marie Bouzkova 7-6 4-6 7-5 in a contest that also could easily have been picked as the match of the day. Bouzkova was in inspired form, with both players producing a large selection of incredible winners. It was a match that was moved midway through the contest to under the roof on Court 1, where the Czech completed her outstanding win in a memorable performance.
Jessica Pegula has now achieved her best result at SW19. She won 6-4 6-0 against Elisabetta Cocciaretto to reach the fourth round. The American #1 was slightly out of sorts in the first set at times, but her Italian opponent could not take advantage. Pegula was superb in the second set by comparison, making just two unforced errors as she raced to the finishing line. There used to be questions about her grass court capabilities, but she has surely ended that now.
Wild card and 2019 semifinalist Elina Svitolina continued what is becoming an inspirational run. Just months after returning from maternity leave, the Ukrainian is into the fourth round after dispatching Sofia Kenin 7-6 6-2. Kenin upset Coco Gauff a few days ago, but Sivtolina stayed composed and solid to draw mistakes out of the American on several occasions. Her confidence is growing, and she will be a dangerous draw for anyone.
Who looked bad
Although she played one of the best grass court players in the world, Zhuoxuan Bai had a truly terrible day, and it was impossible not to feel sympathy for her. She leaked 27 errors in comparison to just three winners over the course of the match. It was a relief that she was not bageled in either set, and hopefully it is an experience she learns from.
11th seed Daria Kasatkina would have expected a difficult third round encounter against former semifinalist Victoria Azarenka. But she never got anywhere close to her best level in a 6-2 6-4 loss. Kasatkina hit just nine winners compared to 20 unforced errors, and also struggled behind her second serve, winning just 31% of points. Azarenka did play well however, and will fancy her chances even more of making a very deep run.
Magda Linette will also be disappointed with the manner of her defeat. Admittedly she was facing 14th seed Belinda Bencic, but just one day after her impressive win against Barbora Krejcikova, she never got close to the same level against her Swiss opponent. Bencic was an easy 6-3 6-1 winner, and faces Iga Swiatek in the fourth round on Sunday.
Match of the day
Lesia Tsurenko and Ana Bogdan had one of the most extraordinary endings to a Grand Slam match in the history of women’s tennis. Tsurenko won the final set championship tiebreak 20 points to 18. This broke the record for the longest tiebreak in the history of women’s Grand Slam tennis. There were repeated gasps of amazement on Court 14 as the tiebreak swung repeatedly in momentum before Tsurenko was finally a 4-6 6-3 7-6 winner. The Ukrainian plays Jessica Pegula next.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
