Aryna Sabalenka joked that she’d love it if the upsets at Wimbledon would stop, which makes sense, given that she is ranked No. 1.
She’s also the only one of the five top-seeded women still in the bracket after No. 4 Jasmine Paolini, last year’s runner-up, followed No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 5 Qinwen Zheng on the way out.
Sabalenka was two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round match three times on Wednesday before asserting herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova.
In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players — 10 women, 13 men — were gone by the end of Day 2, equaling the most at any Grand Slam event in the past 25 years. Five more women joined them by losing Wednesday: Paolini, No. 12 Diana Shnaider, No. 21 Beatriz Haddad Maia, No. 22 Donna Vekic and No. 29 Leylah Fernandez.
“Of course you’re going to know the overall picture,” Sabalenka said, then added with a chuckle: “I hope it’s no upsets anymore in this tournament, if you know what I mean.”
In the Open era, there has been only one major in which no more than one top-five-seeded woman made it through to the third round: 2018 Wimbledon.
Sabalenka is a three-time Grand Slam champion, with all of those titles coming on hard courts at the Australian Open or US Open. She also was the runner-up to Gauff at the clay-court French Open last month but hasn’t been past the semifinals on the grass of the All England Club.
A year ago, Sabalenka was forced to miss Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder.
On Wednesday, the record-breaking heat of the first two days gave way to rain that delayed the start of play on smaller courts for about two hours, along with temperatures that dropped from above 90 degrees Fahrenheit to below 68 F.
At Centre Court, the 48th-ranked Bouzkova went ahead 6-5 in the first set with the match’s initial service break thanks to a double-fault by Sabalenka. Bouzkova served for that set, and was two points away from it at 30-15 in that game, again at 30-all, then once more at deuce.
But on the last such occasion, Sabalenka came through with a forehand volley winner she punctuated with a yell, followed by a down-the-line backhand winner that was accompanied by another shout.
That was a tough moment,” said Sabalenka, who will face 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu next. “Until that point, [my] return wasn’t great enough to break her serve. I’m really glad … everything clicked together and I was able to break her back. I kind of like felt a little bit better.”
That sent them to a tiebreaker, and from 4-all there, Sabalenka took the next three points, ending the set with a powerful forehand return winner off a 67 mph second serve. In the second set, the only break arrived for a 3-2 lead for Sabalenka, and that was basically that.
Sabalenka compiled a 41-17 edge in winners while making only 18 unforced errors in a match that lasted a little more than 1½ hours.
Sabalenka has now reeled off 32 consecutive wins during the first week of majors — before the round of 16 — dating back to the 2022 US Open. She has won 64 of the 67 sets she has played in those matches.
She has also made the third round or better in each of the past 18 majors she has played; the only woman with a longer active streak is Iga Swiatek, who has done so at every major since the start of 2020.
In other women’s singles results Wednesday, Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of Wimbledon for the first time since 2018 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Katerina Siniakova, who took out No. 5 Zheng in the first round.
A four-time major champion, Osaka has never been to the second week of a non-hard-court major in her career. Her victory Wednesday coincided with her daughter Shai’s second birthday.
“I definitely thought about Shai’s birthday today while I was playing my match. I was really trying to be focused,” Osaka said. “I woke up this morning and kind of laid in bed with her, and I felt really grateful to, I guess, be living the life that I’m living because I get to travel with her. She’s so young, but she’s already been to so many different places. It really is a blessing for me.”
Also Wednesday, 12th-seeded American Amanda Anisimova eliminated Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-4, 6-3.
Anisimova did not play at Wimbledon in 2023 and lost in the third round of qualifying in 2024.
Solana Sierra, who got into the main draw after Greet Minnen withdrew before the tournament, defeated Britain’s Katie Boulter in three sets to become the fourth women’s lucky loser to reach the third round at Wimbledon since the Open era began.
Sierra is the first Argentine woman to make the third round since Gisela Dulko in 2009. Ranked 101st, Sierra’s third-round opponent, Cristina Bucsa, is ranked 102nd.
Earlier in the day, Britain’s Sonay Kartal defeated Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.
“Today was a good day at the office,” Kartal said.
ESPN Research, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
