Wimbledon 2023 results: Taylor Fritz loses but Stan Wawrinka sets up Novak Djokovic clash
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Taylor Fritz (left) has never gone beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam
Wimbledon 2023 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details here. |
Taylor Fritz became the second men's top-10 player to fall at Wimbledon while veteran Stan Wawrinka set up a third-round meeting with Novak Djokovic.
American ninth seed Fritz squandered a two-set lead against world number 59 Mikael Ymer, ultimately losing 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 to the Swede.
Swiss Wawrinka beat 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2.
Elsewhere, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini also won.
Fritz has won some of the biggest titles on the men's ATP Tour, including Indian Wells in 2022, but has consistently struggled in the majors and the one Grand Slam quarter-final he has reached in his career remains last year at Wimbledon.
He could not break down an injury-hampered Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals at last year's Wimbledon and struggled against an inspired Ymer this year.
Fritz was the second top-10 player to lose on Thursday after fourth seed Casper Ruud lost to Britain's Liam Broady.
Highlights as GB's Broady stuns Ruud in five-set thriller
Wawrinka 'doesn't have a chance' against Djokovic
Wawrinka, now 88th in the world rankings, has won each of the Grand Slams apart from Wimbledon. He took the opening set against Argentine Etcheverry in just over 30 minutes on a packed Court Three.
Etcheverry fought back to level, but Wawrinka won the next two sets to book a Centre Court meeting on Friday with 36-year-old Djokovic, a player he beat in the finals of the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open.
"I'm happy to have won and I think it was a great match - I'm playing better each match," said Wawrinka.
"It will be an honour to play Novak here. I was missing that in my career to play him in the Grand Slam in Wimbledon - it's going to be a difficult challenge.
"Hopefully I can make it competitive, but if you look at recent results, I don't have a chance."
Zverev and Berrettini finally get to play first-round matches
Rublev, the seventh seed, had to fight back from a set down to beat fellow Russian Aslan Karatsev 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-4 7-5 in another second-round match.
There were rain delays on each of the opening three days, meaning 17 first-round matches across the men's and women's singles still had to be completed on Thursday.
Germany's Alexander Zverev was one of those players to have not seen any action in the opening three days and he gained a hard-fought 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) win over Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer on Court One.
Zverev, the former world number two but now the 19th seed, missed last year's tournament following a serious knee injury he sustained during the 2022 French Open semi-finals.
"I'm just happy to be back at Wimbledon," Zverev said. "I missed it last year with a bad injury so just to be on this court I'm happy to be here with 10,000 people.
"Wimbledon is the most historic tennis tournament in the world and maybe the most historic sporting event in the world.
"Being involved is something special and I have definitely missed it."
Wimbledon 2023: Musetti, Karatsev & GB's Boulter star in shots of day four
Berrettini lost to Djokovic in the Wimbledon final two years ago and was another on first-round duty on Thursday, recording a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 win over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
In round two, unseeded Berrettini will play 15th seed Alex de Minaur after the Australian beat Belgian qualifier Kimmer Coppejans 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-2).
There were also first-round wins for Chile's Nicolas Jarry and Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the 25th and 31st seeds respectively.
In round two, Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik and Canada's Denis Shapovalov, seeded 14th, 23rd and 26th respectively, all gained straight-set victories.
Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev led France's Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-3 4-4 in their second-round match before play was suspended for bad light.
American 10th seed Frances Tiafoe continued his good grass-court form with a 7-6 (13-11) 6-4 6-2 win over Austrian qualifier Dominic Stephan Stricker.