Wimbledon 2019 Winners and Losers: Day 3
The second round of the Wimbledon singles draws started with plenty of tantalising clashes on the cards for those in attendance.
The men’s draw saw British number one Kyle Edmund go up against the experienced Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and reigning champion Novak Djokovic took on American Denis Kudla.
The women’s draw gave fans their first chance to see Coco Gauff in action since her headline-grabbing win against Venus Williams as she faced off against Magdalena Rybarikova and former world number one Simona Halep stepped onto the court to face her fellow countrywoman Mihaela Buzarnescu.
The men’s and women’s doubles draws also got underway giving players like James Ward and Matthew Ebden another chance at Wimbledon silverware after first round exits. But in among all the big clashes on the order of play who were the winners and losers of day three at the All England Club?
Loser: Kyle Edmund
Before the tournament, it was widely accepted that if Great Britain were to have any chance of producing a winner of a Wimbledon singles draw this year then their best chance lay at the feet of Kyle Edmund. Despite not making a single ATP World Tour Final since the New Year, Edmund remained Britain’s male number one and after an assured win over Jaume Munar in the first round the South Africa-born player strolled to a two-set lead against Fernando Verdasco in the second round. However, after losing the third set in a nail-biting tiebreaker Edmund went on to completely capitulate losing the final two sets 6-3, 6-4 as his Wimbledon hopes, for this year at least, were shattered.
Winner: Coco Gauff
Cori “Coco” Gauff makes it into the Winners column for the second time in three days after a commanding win over Rybarikova. After a huge win like Gauff’s over Venus Williams it’s very common for the young player to get carried away and underperform in their next match, Gauff didn’t fall into that trap. Looking strong from the beginning Gauff never let up on her relentless pace winning the first set 6-3 in just 29 minutes. A slightly slower second set followed at 41 minutes but the scoreline remained the same as Gauff set up a third round tie against Polona Hercog in the third round.
Loser: Yulia Putintseva
After her shock win against world number two Naomi Osaka on the opening day, Putintseva must have been celebrating her luck going up against Viktorija Golubic in the second round. But the moment you rest on your laurels in this sport it is game over and Putintseva learnt that the hard way. The Kazakh looked sluggish from the word go as she slumped to a straight-sets loss to her Swiss opponent.
Winner: Ugo Humbert
After sneaking through due to Gael Monfils’ retirement there remained questions about Humbert’s ability to go further in this competition. Those questions were assuaged today as the Frenchman strolled past the experienced Marcel Granollers-Pujol in straight sets. Humbert will now go on to play exciting young prospect Felix Auger-Aliassime in the next round.
Loser: Stan Wawrinka
After an impressive showing against Ruben Bemelmans, Stan Wawrinka fell at his first major hurdle against American Reilly Opelka. The back and forth clash saw spells of good play from both players but considering Wawrinka sits a whole 44 positions above his American counterpart his good play doesn’t save Stan from the loser pile.
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