By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) – Amanda Anisimova survived an almighty scare against compatriot Sofia Kenin on Thursday to join a wave of American women surging into the third round of Wimbledon, while Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe ensured the Stars and Stripes kept flying high in the men’s draw.
Twelve months after her 6-0 6-0 humbling by Iga Swiatek in the title clash, Anisimova was on the verge of another painful defeat after being dragged to three sets by former Australian Open champion Kenin but she came through 6-2 4-6 7-6(10-3).
The sixth seed’s reward for a battling victory was a blockbuster Saturday showdown with another Grand Slam winner in Madison Keys, with the duo meeting as their country marks the 250th anniversary of its independence.
Anisimova admitted there were “really awful” moments in her match and she was bailed out by her serve, firing 20 aces.
“I never thought I’d say this but thank you to my serve. I’m not a good server at all but after today, I can say that I am,” a beaming Anisimova said on court.
“I’m really happy with my performance, especially with the end. Shout out to Sofia, she’s such a good opponent and a real fighter… I was down and told myself to keep fighting.
“I tried to bring myself back to the present moment. I try to remind myself — have fun, you’re playing at Wimbledon.”
FRITZ EMERGING AS GENUINE CONTENDER
Fritz had an enjoyable outing in his own all-American clash on Court Two and the 2025 semi-finalist, a genuine contender on grass with his huge serve and forehand, advanced with a 6-2 6-2 7-5 victory over Patrick Kypson.
The sixth seed joined U.S. colleagues Marcos Giron and Zachary Svajda in advancing, with Michael Zheng, Tommy Paul and Jenson Brooksby all going through on Wednesday.
In all, 15 Americans have advanced to the third round of the singles draws, matching the 2000 total and marking the most since 16 reached that stage in 1995.
Giron, Svajda and Zheng face big tests in the next round when they play French Open champion Alexander Zverev, fifth seed Alex de Minaur and third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime respectively but Brooksby has the unenviable task of trying to topple Jannik Sinner.
Zverev continued his bid for a second straight Grand Slam trophy by beating unseeded Frenchman Valentin Royer 6-1 6-3 7-6(3) while Australian De Minaur dispatched another Frenchman in the tricky Adrian Mannarino with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 win.
Victories for Ashlyn Krueger and Emma Navarro meant eight American women advanced to the third round along with Iva Jovic, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Claire Liu.
RYBAKINA THROUGH WITH MINIMUM FUSS
It was the end of the road for Caty McNally, however, as she ran into a roadblock in the form of 2022 champion Elena Rybakina and went down 6-1 6-2.
Keys progressed with a 6-1 6-4 win over local hope Katie Swan, who could not take advantage of the high-profile support in the Court One stands where Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, and tennis royal Andy Murray were sitting.
Arthur Fery was also watched by Kate in his early games against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen on Court 18, and the 23-year-old wildcard went on to win 5-7 7-6(3) 6-3 6-3 on a sun-soaked morning at the All England Club.
Fery is the last survivor of the 19 British players who began in the singles. Wildcard Jacob Fearnley succumbed to Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4 while Jan Choinski won the first set against 17th seed Tiafoe but could not keep him at bay, going down 4-6 6-2 7-5 6-2.
Tiafoe’s reward is a third-round clash against 10th-seeded Kazakh showman Alexander Bublik who enjoyed a straight-sets win over Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet.
For sentimentalists and purists the best was saved to last on day four of the Championships as Bulgarian 35-year-old Grigor Dimitrov produced a vintage display of grass-court tennis to subdue fast-rising Czech 15th seed Jakub Mensik.
Handed a wildcard by organisers, Dimitrov showed his class in a 7-6(5) 4-6 7-5 6-3 victory on Court One, almost a year to the day since he suffered a heart-breaking injury while leading Sinner by two sets in the fourth round.
“Wimbledon has been so amazing to me by granting me the wild card. I just want to make sure I make the most out of it,” the former world number three said.
Even as media speculation swirled about Serena Williams’s participation in the women’s doubles event alongside her sister Venus after a knee injury, her singles conqueror Maya Joint fell 3-6 6-2 6-0 to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
Eala, the first Filipino to reach the third round of a Grand Slam, will now prepare for defending champion Swiatek, who cleared a potentially dangerous hurdle with ease as she beat former world number one Karolina Pliskova 6-1 6-3.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Martyn Herman in London; Editing by Alison Williams and Clare Fallon)
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