World No. 1 Serena Williams rallied to reach the third round at Wimbledon on Friday, taking out her early frustration by tossing a racket that skidded into the lap of a cameraman.
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Amusing old game. When Serena Williams ate some gourmet dog food intended for her prized Yorkshire terrier, Chip, she went on to beat Christina McHale in straight sets in Rome last month.
A day after saving a match point, Sloane Stephens quickly completed her match at Wimbledon and advanced to third round.
They resume with two-time defending Wimbledon champion Djokovic serving to stay in the third-round match, trailing 6-5 in the fourth set and down two sets to one.
Novak Djokovic, whose match on No. 1 Court was stopped by rain on Friday after he lost the opening two sets, was leading Sam Querrey 4-0 in the third set when the rain returned.
The match was played with the retractable roof closed over Centre Court, with play on the outside courts delayed and interrupted by scattered rain.
She re-gathered her composure sufficiently to take it to four all, but when the younger Williams broke her serve again at that point there was no prospect of recovery.
On day five of Wimbledon 2016, rain forces Venus Williams off court when poised at match point in her clash with 29th seed Kasatkina.
Kasatkina kept her good level on defense in the following game, forcing her opponent into error after error to break Venus one more time and take the lead for the first time in the match. I didn’t know what was happening. “I knew that I could count on that, rely on that”.
All England Club spokesman Johnny Perkins said Friday evening that the decision had been made to add the extra day of play, necessitated by repeated rain delays during Week 1 that created a backlog of matches.
Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, was making his return to the lawn of the All England Club after a two-year absence.
“My hands (are) shaking”, del Potro said after being regaled with a lengthy ovation at Centre Court.
“It feels incredible, I feel alive again”, said the 27-year-old who has undergone three wrist surgeries in the last two years.
Stan Wawrinka was the biggest casualty of the afternoon, with the men’s fourth seed exiting with a four-set loss to Juan Martin del Potro.
“Tomorrow it’s relax, and Monday hopefully I’ll have great energy when I come back”, said Federer, who awaits the victor of the encounter between Grigor Dimitrov and Steve Johnson. The grande dame of Wimbledon, five time champion and the oldest player in the women’s singles draw, had not fared well following the afternoon’s previous interruption.
But Williams eventually triumphed at the third time of asking when the 19-year-old dumped a forehand into the net.
“I’m clearly very happy because, well, the goal was to get to the second week somehow”.
Serena Williams rebounded after losing the first set and went on to reach the third round at Wimbledon by beating Christina McHale 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4.
As they went back on the courts, one hour later, Kasatkina successfully saved the match point and proceeded to hold, to set an 8-all tie.
Since being beaten by Tim Henman in the quarter-finals 15 years ago, Federer has now dropped only one set in six matches against Britons at the citadel of grasscourt tennis.
Kasatkina, 19, demonstrated clearly how she has leapt 128 places up the rankings in the previous year, saving two match points, one after a lengthy rain stoppage.
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“My word, what a lot of rain delays”, said the American, who is through to the last 16 for the first time since 2010.
