Wimbledon: Svitolina into last 16, Belarussian Azarenka next

Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina moved into the last 16 of Wimbledon by defeating American qualifier Sofia Kenin 7-6 (3), 6-2 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Friday evening.

“I just had to put fighting spirit, you know, in front of me and just try to really be focused on myself and trying to fight for every single ball,” Svitolina explained after her win.

“I think the shadow was really bothering both of us, and it was really difficult to play. So that’s why I had to fight, had to really play one point at a time and to not get too frustrated.”

“I was really happy I could handle that first set. Tiebreak is never easy.”

“A lot of Ukrainians will be watching” – Svitolina on upcoming match against Azarenka

Svitolina, ranked No 76, and soon No 53, will play Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, the No 19 seed, next. Azarenka will be the third Grand Slam winner from four opponents this week for Svitolina. The Ukrainian has already won against American wildcard Venus Williams (6-4, 6-3) and Belgian Elise Mertens, the No 28 seed (6-1, 1-6, 6-1).

“She loves to dominate the court, tries to take the ball really early,” Svitolina said about Azarenka. “I’m more like defensive and then offense. You know, I’m trying to build my way.”

The Ukrainian did not yet know if she would shake her opponent’s hand, who comes from Belarus.

“A lot of Ukrainians will be watching, will be supporting me. I will go out there and put the fighting spirit on and just really fight for every single point.”

In a much talked about moment, Svitolina didn’t shake Sabalenka’s hand after their Roland-Garros quarter-final.

The match against Svitolina was also the end of a good run for Sofia Kenin, 2020 Australian Open winner, ranked No 128, who beat No 7 seed Coco Gauff (6-4, 4-6, 6-2) and Chinese Xinyu Wang (6-4, 6-3). Kenin will be back in the top 100 on July 17th, ranked No 91.

Wimbledon (Grand Slam), other third-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 16.077.000, most recent results first):

• Anna Blinkova vs. Aryna Sabalenka: Saturday
• Dalma Galfi vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova: Saturday
• Anastasia Potapova vs. Mirra Andreeva: Saturday
• Marta Kostyuk vs. Madison Keys: Saturday
• Katie Boulter vs. Elena Rybakina: Saturday
• Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Sorana Cirstea: Saturday
• Natalija Stevanovic vs. Petra Kvitova: Saturday
• Ons Jabeur vs. Bianca Andreescu: Saturday
• Marie Bouzkova vs. Caroline Garcia: Friday
• Iga Swiatek vs. Petra Martic: Friday
• Belinda Bencic (14) beat Magda Linette (23): 6-3, 6-1
• Jessica Pegula (4) beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto: 6-4, 6-0
• Marketa Vondrousova beat Donna Vekic (20): 6-1, 7-5
• Victoria Azarenka beat Daria Kasatkina (11): 6-2, 6-4
• Lesia Tsurenko beat Ana Bogdan: 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (18)