Wimbledon Day 4: Sania Mirza advance to second round, Bopanna crashes out

Roger Federer beat Richard Gasquet to advance to the third round of the championships, while Kei Nishikori bowed out.

Indian Tennis star Sania Mirza began her Wimbledon 2021 campaign with a stunning 7-5, 6-3 victory over sixth seeded Desirae Krawczyk and Alexa Guarachi. Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands moved to the second round of the women's doubles event after the win.

The Indo-American duo started slowly with three double faults but gradually grew into the game. Sania Mirza and her partner wrapped up the contest in one hour and 27 minutes. A potential meeting against French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and her partner Elena Rybakina is on the cards for Sania Mirza and Mattek-Sands duo.

On the other hand, the Indian duo of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan failed to make it past the first round in the men's doubles category. Bopanna and Sharan took the match to a tie-break in the first set but were beaten in the following one. Eventually, they lost 6-7, 4-6 to the French-Finnish pair of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Henri Kontinen.

Federer marches on, Nishikori crashes out

Roger Federer overcame the challenge of Richard Gasquet to reach the third round of Wimbledon. The eight-time champion clawed his way back into the contest in the first set when the Frenchman looked likelier to win it. However, Federer eventually caught up with him in the tie-breaker and there was no looking back from thereon.

The Swiss maestro eventually triumphed 7-6, 6-1, 6-4 in front of a packed Centre Court at the All England Club. Federer will face current British No. 2 Cameron Norrie in the next round.

On the other hand, Japanese star Kei Nishikori bowed out of Wimbledon 2021 after a disappointing defeat against Jordan Thompson. Nishikori, who had celebrated his 100th career Grand Slam victory on Wednesday, lost 5-7, 4-6, 7-5, 3-6.

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and teenage sensation Coco Gauff marked their return to the centre court with fantastic victories. Barty and Gauff triumphed by the identical scorelines of 6-4, 6-3 over Russians Anna Blinkova and Elena Vesnina respectively.

Barty will take on Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova in her next match. Whereas, Gauff will face Kaja Juvan of Slovenia in the third round.

Svitolina, Sakkari suffer shock exits

In the women's singles event, third seed Elina Svitolina succumbed to a disappointing defeat against Poland's Magda Linette. Svitolina had overcome a tough contest on Wednesday and was defeated by by her unseeded opponent on Thursday. Ultimately, Linette displayed impressive performance and picked up a deserved straight set 6-3, 6-4 win.

Roland Garros semi-finalist Maria Sakkari also bowed out after losing 5-7, 4-6 to unheralded American Shelby Rogers. The Greek followed suit after her compatriot Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was knocked out of the Wimbledon in the first round.

Routine wins for Krejcikova, Pavlyuchenkova

French Open finalists Barbora Krejcikova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova were both largely dominant in registering commanding displays in the second round of Wimbledon.

Krejcikova swept aside her German counterpart Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon third round for the first time in her career. Her next opponent will be Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova.

Pavlyuchenkova overcame Czech Republic's Kristyna Pliskova 6-3, 6-3 to book her place in the next round. She will face Karolina Muchova in the next round.

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Zverev in cruise control

German Tennis star Alexander Zverev reached the third round at Wimbledon with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over American Tennys Sandgren. The 24-year-old produced a dominant display to progress further at the All England Club. The 2020 US Open finalist will play the winner of the all-American meeting between Taylor Fritz and Steve Johnson.

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