Sabalenka thankful for Wimbledon crowd support
Aryna Sabalenka says she is thankful for the support from the Wimbledon crowd after not knowing what to expect on her return to the Championships.
The Belarusian second seed overcame a patchy start to beat French world number 42 Varvara Gracheva 2-6 7-5 6-2.
Sabalenka was too upset to watch last year’s tournament after Russian and Belarusian players were banned following the invasion of Ukraine.
“For me it’s really important to feel the support,” Sabalenka said.
“I didn’t know what to expect from people. After the first match I felt amazing. I was really thankful for all the support.”
The Australian Open champion is a popular player with the crowds, with one fan passing her their young child to hold for a photograph after her win over Gracheva.
On a stiflingly hot Court One, Sabalenka looked out of sorts in the opening exchanges against Gracheva, making 16 unforced errors and giving away her serve three times.
She seemed somewhat affected by the sun beating down on the SW19 turf, using bags of ice to cool down at each change of ends.
Unsurprisingly, Sabalenka left the court to regroup after hitting eight unforced errors in a row and failing to take three break points as she gifted the opening set to Gracheva.
She kept the second set on serve before letting out a guttural scream of frustration when she set up a chance to counter Gracheva’s serve but blazed it well wide.
The 25-year-old didn’t have to wait long for the breakthrough, though, as she began peppering Gracheva – who switched her allegiance from Russia to France in June – with thunderous forehands to level the match at 1-1.
A double-break in the third set saw the world number two return to somewhere near her usual level of performance as she won the match and set up a third-round tie against world number 40 Anna Blinkova with a final roaring ace.
What else has happened on day five?
Elsewhere, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova cruised into the third round of this year’s tournament with a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
The Czech ninth seed, who won the grass-court title in Berlin in the lead up to the Championships, took just 74 minutes to wrap up victory on a stiflingly hot morning.
Despite trading early breaks, Belarusian Sasnovich struggled in an error-strewn performance before Kvitova, 33, raced away with the second set.
Meanwhile, former world number two Paula Badosa was forced to retire from her second-round match against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk with a back problem that had kept her out of the French Open.
Following an awkward exchange with a reporter in her press conference, the Spaniard confirmed afterwards she would not compete in the mixed doubles alongside partner Stefanos Tsitsipas.
American 25th seed Madison Keys also advanced with a 7-5 6-3 win over Swiss player Viktorija Golubic.