Former champion Maria Sharapova had her lack of match practice exposed by unseeded Argentine Gisela Dulko who claimed a nailbiting 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Sharapova, ranked 60 after suffering with a shoulder injury but given a special seeding of 24 here, had battered Dulko for the loss of three games in two previous meetings.
But the Russian struggled to find an answer to the world number 45’s scurrying array of groundstrokes and changes of pace in the sunshine on Centre Court. Dulko, one of the few women on tour to have a Wimbledon singles victory over Martina Navratilova to her name, sealed the opening set in 35 minutes with a crunching forehand winner.
Sharapova’s frustration grew in the second as Dulko raced to a 3-0 lead but the Argentine suffered a temporary meltdown and her opponent raced back into contention with a run of seven straight games. The two exchanged breaks in the decider before Dulko stayed calm to seal victory on a nerve-wracking fifth match point and set up a third-round contest against Russian 10th seed Nadia Petrova.
Serena Williams powered into the third round with a quickfire demolition of Australia’s Jarmila Groth. The American won 6-2, 6-1.
DJOKOVIC ADVANCES
In the men’s singles, Novak Djokovic eased into the third round on Wednesday with a straight sets win over German qualifier Simon Gruel. The Serbian fourth seed won 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 to set up a meeting with American Mardy Fish for a place in the last 16.
ZHENG FALLS
China’s Zheng Jie was denied another memorable run at Wimbledon as the 2008 semifinalist was beaten 6-3, 7-5 by Slovakian glamour girl Daniela Hantuchova in the second round. Zheng, seeded 16th, came of age at the All-England Club last year when victories over top seed Ana Ivanovic and the highly-ranked Nicole Vaidisova and Agnes Szavay made her the first Chinese to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal.
But early exits from the French Open and grasscourt tournaments at Birmingham and Eastbourne suggested Zheng was enduring her first dip for over a year.
Japan’s Ai Sugiyama made it to the third round at Wimbledon with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Spanish qualifier Arantxa Parra Santonja.
Veteran Sugiyama, who made the quarterfinals here in 2004, was pushed hard in the first set but was able to break her opponent’s serve in the second. The 33-year-old faces either Chinese number 16 seed Zheng Jie or Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova in the third round.
SAFIN OUT
Marat Safin’s final match at Wimbledon took place on cozy Court 18 closer to the exit than to the court where trophies are handed out. Playing his final year on the tour, the mercurial Russian lost in the first round late on Tuesday to American Jesse Levine, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
In other late matches on Tuesday, No. 13 Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, saved two match points to beat Lucie Hradecka 5-7, 6-2, 8-6. Also advancing was this year’s winner at Roland Garros, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and top-ranked Dinara Safina. No. 3 Andy Murray began his bid to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936 by beating American Robert Kendrick 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4.
Russian top seed Safina, who has never got beyond the third round, reached the last 64 with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino. In the men’s doubles, fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles survived a scare from spirited qualifiers Somdev Devvarman and Kevin Anderson in a gruelling four-setter to enter the second round. The Indo-Bahamian pair came through 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 in a ervewracking battle in which the Indo-South African duo pushed the fourth seeds to limits before going down in three hours and 15 minutes.
Indian number one Sania Mirza tumbled out of Wimbledon in the second round, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Romanian number 28 seed Sorana Cirstea.
Mirza was able to break her rival’s serve but hit far more unforced errors than the French Open quarterfinalist. Cirstea faces either Belarussian number eight seed Victoria Azarenka or Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru in the third round.
Wimbledon Second Round Day 3 men's results
Roger Federer (2) def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
Novak Djokovic (4) def. Simon Greul 7-5, 6-1, 6-4
Fernando Verdasco (7) def. Kristof Vliegen 7-6(7-3),6-7(3-7),7-6 (7-4),6-4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (9) def. Simone Bolelli walkover
Marin Cilic (11) def. Sam Querrey 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4
Robin Soderling (13) def. Marcel Granollers 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 7-5
Tommy Robredo (15) def. Stefan Koubek 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
Rainer Schuettler (18) vs. Dudi Sela 6-7 (3-7), 3-6, 2-6
Ivo Karlovic (22) def. Steve Darcis 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Tommy Haas (24) def. Michael Llodra 4-3 retired
Philipp Kohlschreiber (27) def. Ivo Minar 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 8-6
Mardy Fish (28) def. Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Igor Andreev (29) def. Vincent Spadea 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
Albert Montanes (32) def. Guillermo Canas 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Nicolas Almagro def. Karol Beck 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 3-6, 7-5
Andreas Seppi vs. Marc Gicquel 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 5-5 suspended
First Round
Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Taylor Dent 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4
Wimbledon Second Round Day 3 women results
Serena Williams (2) def. Jarmila Groth 6-2, 6-1
Elena Dementieva (4) def. Aravane Rezai 6-1, 6-3
Vera Zvonareva (7) def. Mathilde Johansson 6-1, 6-3
Victoria Azarenka (8) def. Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-0, 6-0
Nadia Petrova (10) def. Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-2
Marion Bartoli (12) def. Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-1
Dominika Cibulkova (14) def. Urszula Radwanska 6-2, 6-4
Jie Zheng (16) vs. Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 5-7
Maria Sharapova (24) vs. Gisela Dulko 2-6, 6-3, 4-6
Virginie Razzano (26) def. Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-0
Alisa Kleybanova (27) vs. Regina Kulikova 6-0, 4-6, 1-6
Sorana Cirstea (28) def. Sania Mirza 6-4, 6-4
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (31) vs. Roberta Vinci 4-6, 6-7 (6-8)
Francesca Schiavone def. Michelle Larcher De Brito 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4)
Arantxa Parra Santonja vs. Ai Sugiyama 6-7 (5-7), 3-6
Elena Vesnina def. Vera Dushevina 6-3, 6-4
Pictures of the day
Princess Michael of Kent watch Maria Sharapova of Russia plays Gisela Dulko of Argentina in their second round singles match at Wimbledon, Wednesday, June 24, 2009.
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