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Wimbledon 2018 Results: Winners, Scores, Stats from Thursday's Singles Bracket
July 5, 2018
Former champions Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic both progressed to the third round of Wimbledon 2018 with straight sets wins on Thursday.
World No. 1 Nadal saw off a determined challenge from Russia's Mikhail Kukushkin, while Djokovic made light work of Horacio Zeballos and will face British No. 1 Kyle Edmund in the third round.
However, there was another shock in the men's draw as third seed Marin Cilic lost in five sets to Guido Pella who picked up the biggest win of his career.
The women's draw also saw a big upset as defending champion and third seed Garbine Muguruza went out after going down in three sets to Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck.
British No. 1 Johanna Konta was another seed to depart on Thursday, but Simona Halep is safely through after victory over China's Saisai Zheng.
Here's a look at the selected results from Thursday's play and a recap of the best of the action:
Men's Results
(2) Rafael Nadal bt. Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Guido Pella bt. (3) Marin Cilic 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5
(8) Kevin Anderson bt. Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4
(12) Novak Djokovic bt. Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
Thomas Fabbiano bt. Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
(15) Nick Kyrgios bt. Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
(9) John Isner bt. Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (3), 7-5
(31) Stefanos Tsitsipas bt. Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3
(21) Kyle Edmund bt. Bradley Klahn 6-4, 7-6 (0), 6-2
(5) Juan Martin Del Potro bt. Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
(28) Kei Nishikori bt. Bernard Tomic 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-5
Benoit Paire bt. (26) Denis Shapovalov 0-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
Women's Results
(18) Naomi Osaka bt. Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-4
(17) Ashleigh Barty bt. Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 7-5
(11) Angelique Kerber bt. Claire Liu 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
(14) Daria Kasatkina bt. Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3
(26) Daria Gavrilova bt. Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-1
(1) Simona Halep bt. Saisai Zheng 7-5, 6-0
Dominika Cibulkova bt. (22) Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-4
(14) Daria Kasatkina bt. Yulia Putintseva 6-2, 6-3
(12) Jelena Ostapenko bt. Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-3
Alison Van Uytvanck bt. (3) Garbine Muguruza 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
Nadal was made to work hard for his win over Kukushkin who caused the second seed problems with his powerful forehand. The Russian asked plenty of questions of Nadal but a lack of consistency let him down at vital moments.
The Spaniard was forced to save break points in his opening service game and did drop his serve in the fourth game. However, he twice broke Kukushkin to wrap up the first set 6-4 with the accuracy of his groundstrokes proving too much for his opponent.
Nadal found it easier going in the second set but was made to work hard for the third as Kukushkin broke serve again. Yet while Nadal was not at his best he showed real determination to hit back and wrap up the match in two hours and 23 minutes.
Nadal was also hit with time violations and offered his view after the game, per Metro's George Bellshaw:
George Bellshaw @BellshawGeorgeNadal on time violations: 'It's normal. I was slow in that moment. Probably I should go to the toilet, then I would have time to do everything. I think I was very quick during the match, but in the sets I needed time to change all this stuff because it was a humid day.'
The world No. 1 progresses to face Australia's Alex de Minaur who beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the second round.
Djokovic also remains on track in SW19 after a straightforward win over Zeballos. The Serb was rarely tested in a comfortable outing, although he did appear to pick up an injury late in the third set.
He did not appear too concerned about the problem after the match, per Bellshaw:
One player who did suffer an upset on Thursday was Cilic who threw away a two-set lead as he crashed out to Argentina's Pella.
The match resumed on Thursday after being interrupted by rain on Wednesday evening with Pella taking the third set 6-4 and then forcing a decider by winning the fourth on a tie-break.
Cilic struggled for fluency against Pella who carved out match points at 5-4 only to see them saved by two big serves. He had another chance at 6-5 and converted his fourth match point to pull off one of the biggest shocks of the tournament so far.
The 28-year-old spoke about his win after the match:
Women's top seed Halep remains on target although she had to work hard to take the first set against Zheng. Halep suffered a slow start and trailed 5-3 before turning it around and taking it 7-5.
The second set was a complete contrast as Halep was unstoppable winning it 6-0 to remain on track to win her first Wimbledon title.
Muguruza's defence of her crown ended in surprise fashion as she lost in three sets. The Spaniard looked on course after winning the first set 7-5, but Van Uytvanck showed power and precision to level it up.
The defending champion was made to suffer in the deciding set as she made a series of errors which handed the momentum to her opponent. Van Uytvanck took full advantage as she claimed the third 6-1 to inflict yet another shock.
Freelance writer Ben Rothenberg showed how many women's seeds have gone out already:
Van Uytvanck put in a spirited display and fully deserved her win which leaves the women's draw with just two of the top eight seeds remaining after only four days.