The first two days of Wimbledon 2021 this week were filled with rain, and slippery courts. This caused various injuries including a knee injury to legend Serena Williams, who was forced to withdraw from her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, when the match was tied at three points each.
As the third round gets underway on Friday, and the tournament back on schedule, there are nine Americans left in the draw, which shows the depth within the United States Tennis Association at the moment. Among the players left include four American men and five American women.
The four American men left are 31st ranked Taylor Fritz of San Diego, CA, Frances Tiafoe of Hyattsville, MD, Sebastian Korda of Bradenton, FL, and Denis Kudla of Arlington, VA. Tiafoe, Korda and Kudla have beaten seeded players already in the first two rounds. Tiafoe made tennis headlines to begin Wimbledon, when he beat recent French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece (the third seed), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. After beating Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, Tiafoe is set to play 25th ranked Karen Khachanov of Russia.
Kudla beat 30th ranked Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, 5-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Italian Andreas Seppi. He now faces number one seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia in round three. Korda’s upset was in the first round as he beat Alex de Minaur of Australia, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. Like Kudla, Fritz has a tough third round opponent as he is up against Alexander Zverev of Germany, the fourth seed and 2020 United States Open finalist.
On the women’s side, the five American women in round three are 20th-ranked Coco Gauff of Atlanta, GA, 23rd-ranked Madison Keys of Rock Island, IL, Shelby Rogers of Mount Pleasant, SC, 2017 United States Open champion Sloane Stephens of Plantation, FL, and Madison Brengle of Dover, DE. Gauff beat former Wimbledon semifinalist Elena Vesnina of Russia, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. Keys is facing former Australian Open semifinalist Elise Mertens of Belgium in the third round.
Rogers, Stephens and Brengle entered Wimbledon unseeded, and have already beaten seeded players. Rogers beat 15th-ranked Maria Sakkari of Greece, 7-5, 6-4 in round two; Stephens beat two-time Wimbledon champion and 10th-ranked Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in round one, while Brengle beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States, the fourth seed, 6-2, 6-4.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
