Wimbledon: Elena Rybakina beats Elize Cornet in second round, Casper Ruud loses: Defending champion Elena Rybakina defeated Elize Cornet 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday.
Although the victory came in straight sets, it doesn’t tell the whole story of this epic. The second set was a blockbuster fight as Cornet refused to lie down.
Rybakina’s power game set her up but Cornet’s persistence won her the game. She injured her knee after a bad slip, but she struggled through the pain with a ton of bandages on her injured leg.
However, the defending champion kept her composure and progressed to the next round.
Former Wimbledon semifinalist Elina Svitolina continued her stellar run at Grand Slams after her maternity break, with the Ukrainian wild card advancing to the third round with a 6-1,1-6,6-1 win over 28th seed Elise Mertens.
Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April following the birth of her daughter in October 2022, reached the French Open quarter-finals last month and proved too good for five-time champion Williams in the Wimbledon opener.
It took a 10-point shootout, but fifth seed Carolina Gracia of France finally advanced to the third round after defeating Leyla Fernandez in three sets.
After Victoria lost the opening set 6–3, the Frenchwoman broke through in the second set 6–4 before winning the deciding set 7–6 (10–6).
Victoria Azarenka moved up to 12th on the list of most women’s singles Grand Slam wins in the Open Era.
After a 6–3, 6–0 victory over Nadia Podoroska in her second-round match, Azarenka brought her total Grand Slam match wins to 155.