The greatest and oldest running tennis tournament, Wimbledon, has finally made its way back to the spotlight in London. After cancellation due to the pandemic, all of the legends and young stars are finally back on the grass courts.
On one side of the bracket, the first round just completed today and on the other side, the second round just completed. An interesting format for this year, but nonetheless there are still some great matches that will occur on Thursday.
Wimbledon 2nd Round Men’s Singles
There are a few key matches that will for sure be great to watch on Thursday morning.
Starting with the man that everyone considers the GOAT, Roger Federer. He will face off against the French Richard Gasquet. This will be their first matchup on grass since the 2007 Wimbledon, where Federer won in straight sets. Like most people, Federer has dominated Gasquet throughout his career posting an 18-2 record all-time. Expect him to add on to his current win total and advance to the third round again.
One of the earliest matches will feature the 2020 US Open runner-up and 4th ranked Alexander Zverev facing off against US veteran Tennys Sandgren. This will be only the second time that they face off, the only matchup being at the Washington D.C Open back in 2017. Zverev is on a great roll right now, winning his first round matchup in straight sets.
Nick Kyrgios has been in the headlines at Wimbledon since his first round matchup, where he suffered an apparent injury that had him rolling around in agony. Two players had already retired in the first round due to injury, including the heavily favored Serena Williams. He had no intention of going home early, especially because this is his first tournament in 6 months. He won the final two sets in round one to advance to the second round and face off against Gianluca Mager for the first time in their careers.
Wimbledon 2nd Round Women’s Singles
After a wonderful and exciting first round, the second round continues the fast pace Wimbledon tournament, here are some matches that you should keep an eye out for on Thursday.
It wouldn’t be right to not mention one of the brightest young stars in the game right now, Coco Gauff. She has reached the highest ranking in her young career thus far. This will be the first time that her and Elena Vesnina will face off and we are in for a great show. Both are coming off of first round games where they both won in straight sets. Coco gauff is a dark horse to win the Wimbledon, especially after her magic 2019 run where she lost to the eventual champion Simona Halep in the 4th round.
Of course, the number 1 player in the world Ashleigh Barty is playing tomorrow and it would be a disservice to not have her as a must watch. She has an incredible game that allows her to dominate her opponents. She struggled with emotions in the first round which gave her some problems early on, but she was able to show why she’s the number one player in the world.
She is clearly the favorite to win it all now with the way she has played in 2021 and will most likely breeze past her opponent, Anna Blinkova.Victoria Azarenka has made a triumphant return to the top 15 rankings and rightfully so. She has been playing some great tennis in the past few years and looks to continue this in the Wimbledon. She will face off against Sorana Cirstea in the 2nd round, who she has beaten 3 times already, twice on grass. I expect the same result here as Azarenka has more experience and the better record as of late.
