Wimbledon: Boulter registers epic comeback win against Pliskova; Swiatek, Halep advance
Jul 01, 2022
London [UK], July 1 : Great Britain's Katie Boulter rallied from a set down to knock 2021 finalist Karolina Pliskova out of Wimbledon in the second round on Thursday, her second win over the Czech in as many weeks.
Nine days after knocking the Czech out of the Eastbourne International in the second round, Boulter repeated the feat on Centre Court at Wimbledon, with a 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 win over the 2021 finalist and No.6 seed putting her into the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time.
Boulter lost six of seven games to drop the first set from 2-0 up. Though she led by a break twice in the second set, she ultimately needed to squeak through a second-set tiebreak to take the match the distance. She won the first four points, and then three of the last four.
In all, the two players combined for 13 consecutive holds of serve from the middle of the second set through the decider; the first player to reach break point in that stretch was Boulter, and she duly converted the second chance given to her at 4-4.
She wrapped up the 1 hour, 57-minute match in style, too. At 30-30, she hit a forehand winner and finished things off with a stylish volley at the net.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek is up to 37 victories in a row, but her latest win came after an extended struggle. Swiatek overcame Dutch lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of Wimbledon.
2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep was made to work in her second-round showdown with Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens, coming back to seal a 7-5, 6-4 win to advance to the third round. Halep will face Poland's Magdalena Frech next.
Barbora Krejcikova's injury-plagued 2022 season has taken a step forward at Wimbledon. With a 6-3, 6-4 win over Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic, the Czech sealed back-to-back wins for the first time since the Australian Open.
