Swiatek 0-2 Cornet
A decent hold from Cornet and Swiatek doesn’t look too happy on the grass surface.
Iga Swiatek, the tournament favourite, in the women’s singles, is currently in the first game of her match with Alizé Cornet on Centre Court. And she suffers a break straight away.
Simona Halep, meanwhile, is a set up on Magdalena Fręch of Poland.
Other news: Last year’s quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic rallied from a set down to complete a 2-6 6-4 6-3 victory over 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova. American Brandon Nakashima powered past Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4 6-4 6-1. Cristian Garin defeated Jenson Brooksby 6-2 6-3 1-6 6-4. Jason Kubler, of Australia, beat American Jack Sock, 6-2 4-6 5-7 7-6 6-3
Amanda Anisimova says: “I think this is the most special day in my career. Winning today is so special, especially in front of a full crowd.” Harmony Tan awaits in the last 16.
Anisimova beats Gauff 6-7 6-2 6-1
Two big serves and Anisimova is 30-0 up. Then a cute drop volley cannot be returned, and she has three match points. The first is taken, as Gauff can only lay up her compatriot for the winner. She was devastating in the second and third set.
Anisimova is in control now against Gauff, at 5-1 up in the third set, with Gauff serving and looking in trouble, and coughing up two break points, the first of which is seized. Anisimova will now serve for a place in the last 16.
Richard Gasquet, the French veteran, is out, having been beaten in three sets by Botic van de Zandschulp, the Dutchman. Sounds an eventful match.
Gosh Gasquet just hit 4 double faults in a game when serving for the set…
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 2, 2022
Cristian Garin, the Chilean, is the next opponent for De Minaur, who admits his “just relief. It was harder than what I wanted it to be. More than anything, it’s a relief to be in the second week of Wimbledon.”
Since you ask, and we got lost in that heightened excitement, Gauff and Anisimova are 1-1 on sets, and Anisimova has just broken in the third, and she’s 3-1 up.
De Minaur beats Broady 6-3, 6-3 7-5
De Minaur serves with zest, trying to do better than his last service game, but he does make an error for 15-15. Then comes another for 30-30. The nerves jangling? Perhaps, as he is caught out by an odd bounce, and break point is presented. No such nerves when he cranks home an overhead to level it at deuce. Then, he nets again, with the court at his mercy for another break point to Broady. That’s saved by a disguised forehand winner, down the line and beyond. Then comes a double fault, the challenge of the call not paying off. That’s saved by some composed hitting when Broady is charging all over the court. And another break point as Broady soaks up the pressure in a long rally and De Minaur cracks. Again, saved, with a volley at the net. Finally, a huge serve gets him to his first match point, but an overhit backhand nixes that. Then comes another huge serve, and the second match point. And that’s also saved. Broady refuses to lie down but then commits an error in overhitting. A third match point, also saved, by some smart hitting and then a punched volley at the net. A fourth, and at last, Broady has to accept defeat, as he is unable to return another big serve.
De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 6-5 Broady*
A long baseline rally is lost by Broady when he makes an error to hand over a 15-30 deficit. He then challenges, unsuccessfully, and has two break points to face. The first is taken by De Minaur, who whips the ball right to the toes of Broady, and now the Australian can serve once again to win the match.
*De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 5-5 Broady
Broady’s alive! Finally, he breaks. A glimmer at 0-30 when De Minaur nets from the baseline, and lots of roars from the home fans. But some fierce hitting a soft, deadening volley takes it to 15-30. Then comes two break points for Broady when De Minaur blams a forehand out. The first is saved by a punching forehand winner. The second is not, as the forehand goes out of bounds.
De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 5-4 Broady*
An ace takes Broady to 40-15, but then a poor second serve offers up a chance for De Minaur to make it to 40-30, then comes deuce. De Minaur edges closer but makes a returning error at deuce, and the Broady sees out his service hold.
Anisimova now leads Gauff 4-1 in that second set.
De Minaur* 6-3, 6-3 5-3 Broady
An easy hold for De Minaur, and now Broady must serve to save himself.
De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 4-3 Broady*
Broady relief as his forehand takes him to 40-15, when it looked to be heading out. He’s rather less happy when he’s sent round the house and can only clank the post of the net. Still, he holds, and his exit from the tournament is postponed for now.
Gauff breaks back and is 1-2 down, and serving against Anisimova.
Meanwhile, in fetching jacket, Cliff Richard is pictured in the crowd.
*De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 4-2 Broady
De Minaur being made to work on his serve. A forehand miss means it’s 30-30 but still he gets the job done.
Anisimova has broken Gauff, and it’s 2-0 in the second set.
De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 3-2 Broady*
Broady challenges a call when he thinks he’s landed an ace. He’s proved wrong, and has one challenge left. He ends up over the net when a delicate drop catches him out for 30-30. A decent serve arrives us at 40-30, and when taken to deuce, he holds his serve. He hasn’t, then, lost heart.
De Minaur* 6-3, 6-3 3-1 Broady
Broady’s roar getting louder and louder, and there’s still life in him. But De Minaur’s speed catches him out and he misses an overhead to be pulled back to 30-30. Then there’s some tomfoolery with the line judge who gets two calls wrong on the De Minaur serve, both of which are challenged. And after all that, Broady lands a break point at 30-40. But, from the baseline, with De Minaur set in motion, he can only net a backhand. And then De Minaur closes him down to serve out.
Gauff has taken the first set in that tie-break with Anisomova, the first set taking an hour and four minutes.
I’ve watched tennis for 35 years and I’ve never seen anyone as fast around a court as Alex De Minaur. #Wimbledon
— Calvin Betton (@Calvbetton) June 30, 2022
De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 2-1 Broady*
Broady double faults at 30-0 up but then gets to 40-15 with a topped backhand he clatters down the line for 40-15. De Minaur then cracks a winner from the baseline for 40-30, which seems to distract Broady who then nets for deuce. Still, he recovers himself and celebrates winning the game with a loud roar.
Anisimova and Gauff are now in a tie-break, their first set being something of an epic.
De Minaur* 6-3, 6-3 2-0 Broady
De Minaur smells blood and gets a bit excited when spotting a chance to punch a winner home, and finds himself pegged back to deuce. Then Broady lands his first break point of the whole game when sending De Minaur round the houses. It comes and goes, as he is caught by De Minaur retrieving what looked like a lost cause and can only scoop the ball out. The call is challenged to no avail, and De Minaur serves out. A chance of an unlikely comeback is snuffed out.
De Minaur 6-3, 6-3 1-0 Broady*
Broady, sadly, seems to be losing heart. No disgrace in losing to an opponent who looks to have the tools to become a next big thing, particularly on grass. Three break points soon arrive, and though the first two are saved, Broady makes a mistake on a smash and ends up out of bounds. A shame.
Gauff has broken back, so it’s back with serve in that game with Anisimova at 5-4.
De Minaur* 6-3, 6-3 Broady
A brisk backhand takes it to 30-0, and then Broady goes for a winner, but misses the angle. Three set points, and the first is taken when Broady again overhits. That’s a long road back for the Brit.
De Minaur 6-3, 5-3 Broady*
Better serving from Broady now, and he has made De Minaur serve for the second set.
Anisimova has won four straight games and now leads the first set 4-3 and is serving.
De Minaur* 6-3, 5-3 Broady
Suddenly, Broady is bringing the noise, and he’s up to 0-30, working De Minaur’s backhand. But then De Minaur, pulling himself from the ground, somehow digs out a volley at the net for 15-30. Then comes a big serve for 30-30, then Broady overcooks from the baseline, and then does the same to hand control back. He’s yet to get to break point.
De Minaur 6-3, 4-3 Broady*
Big, gusty hold from the Stockport lad. A crashing, whipped overhead from De Minaur takes him to 30-0 up on his opponent’s serve, then Broady nets from the baseline to present three break points. The first is saved when Broady prevails in a rally by coming to the net. De Minaur’s powers of recovery take some grinding down, though he can’t return Broady’s next serve. Then, Broady sends De Minaur running, and then chops a backhand drop to go to deuce. Two fine serves cannot be returned and Broady punches the air in delight.
Anisomova, meanwhile, has broken back, and it’s back with serve at 2-3 with Gauff.
De Minaur* 6-3, 4-2 Broady
Broady have De Minaur something of a scare there, only for the Australian to hold his serve in the end.
Good afternoon, all. Thanks, Will and Gregg, for their sterling service. I join the throng with both Liam Broady and Amanda Anismova in a bit of trouble. Some housekeeping: the denotes next server thing I shall abandon due to it confusing me with every change of server. *now denotes current server.
De Minaur* 6-3, 3-2 Broady (* denotes next server)
Ah, hard luck Broady. De Minaur has broken again. And, with that, I’ll hand over to tennis aficionado John Brewin. Enjoy!
Elsewhere, Coco Gauff has charged into a 3-0 lead against her fellow American Amanda Anisimova. Botic van de Zandschulp leads Richard Gasquet 2-1 in the third set, having won the first but lost the second, while Jason Kubler is 4-3 up in the fourth set against Jack Sock and Cristian Garín is 5-4 up in the fourth against Jenson Brooksby. Both Sock and Garín currently lead two sets to one.
De Minaur 6-3, 2-2 Broady* (* denotes next server)
De Minaur is a bit good, isn’t he? He holds to love, leaving Broady stranded with several thumping serves and ending on his eighth ace of the match for good measure.
De Minaur* 6-3, 1-2 Broady (* denotes next server)
De Minaur earns two break points but Broady defends them both, the latter with his first ace of the match. At deuce, Broady loses a stinging rally after being manoeuvred into the corner of the court, but hits back with another wicked drop shot which eludes De Minaur and sees out the game from there.
De Minaur 6-3, 1-1 Broady* (* denotes next server)
De Minaur powers to 40-0, but Broady puts up some resistance and wins a couple of points. He can’t quite take it to deuce, however, wafting an attempted backhand into the net.
De Minaur* 6-3, 0-1 Broady (* denotes next server)
Broady fires some big first serves down the court, dropping a single point on the way to a hold. De Minaur ended the first set with six aces to Broady’s nil, so the British No 5 could do with more where that came from.
First set: De Minaur 6-3 Broady
It’s a simple defence for De Minaur, who wins the game to love. Broady’s path to victory is now considerably longer.
De Minaur* 5-3 Broady (* denotes next server)
Broady regains his composure on serve, but it may be too late to salvage the first set. De Minaur has the chance to serve it out.
De Minaur 5-2 Broady* (* denotes next server)
De Minaur races into a 40-0 lead and looks set for a love hold, but an exchange of venemous forehands ends with Broady lashing a winner down the line. It’s a temporary reprieve, however. The British hopeful tries an ambitious slice, but it sails beyond the baseline.
De Minaur* 4-2 Broady (* denotes next server)
Suddenly De Minaur ups the tempo and Broady is under severe pressure. The Australian earns three break points, wrapping up the game with a cross-court winner which his opponent can only spoon wide.
De Minaur 3-2 Broady* (* denotes next server)
De Minaur drops a single point on the way to another straightforward hold. Time for a drinks break.
Over to De Minaur and Broady, then. Broady wins his second service game to love, finishing off with a gorgeous drop shot which leaves his opponent stretching in vain and almost stumbling into the net. The pair are level at 2-2 in the first set.
Tomljanovic beats Krejcikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3!
Krejcikova battles hard in the final game, earning a break point but failing to take it. Tomljanovic earns advantage and then, after a brief rally, wins match point, slumping to the ground and grinning in a mixture of triumph and relief.
Thanks, Gregg. I’m still trying to shake off the sugar rush after necking an entire punnet of strawberries and half a pint of double cream in preparation, so let’s start with the match report from Harmony Tan’s demolition of Katie Boulter earlier on.
Alex de Minaur and Liam Broady have just emerged to warm up on Court No 1. I’m going to hand over to Will Magee to bring you updates for the next hour or so. Bye.
Tomljanovic battles hard to hold serve and plays some lovely tennis to bring up two break points in the next game. A delicious backhand slice across court is too low for Krejcikova to retrieve. Tomljanovic has the break and leads 4-2 in the deciding set.
Gary Naylor has a view on the low attendances at Wimbledon.
Though you won’t hear it from the government or its fawning media, Covid, suspected Covid and fear of Covid must be eating into these attendances @GreggBakowski.
If you invested in home tech during lockdown, why not stay home and not pay astronomical sums for travel and hotels?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 2, 2022
