The U.S. Stars and Stripes fluttered feebly for Jessica Pegula at Wimbledon on Thursday as the fifth seed was ousted in the second round by China’s Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-7(9) 6-1 on American Independence Day.
The U.S. Stars and Stripes fluttered feebly for Jessica Pegula at Wimbledon on Thursday as the fifth seed was ousted in the second round by China’s Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-7(9) 6-1 on American Independence Day.
The Chinese player blasted 38 winners which, combined with 33 unforced errors from Pegula, secured victory and a third round match-up against Harriet Dart who beat fellow Briton Katie Boulter in a tense three-set thriller.
For Wang, world number 42, the victory was her first over a top 10 player.
“Couple of days ago I was asking my coach when will this happen,” Wang said. “Jessica was really tough to play on grass. Her ball was super low and I’m just really happy I won in the end.”
For Pegula the loss was an ignominious crash back to earth on the back of some great form heading into the grasscourt Grand Slam.
In the Berlin lead-up event she saved five match points in the final to win her first career grass title with victory over Anna Kalinskaya and had high hopes of improving on last year’s quarter-final finish here.
While Pegula’s challenge ended in feeble fashion there was better news elsewhere for her compatriots.
Following her on to Court Three was 11th seed Danielle Collins who avoided any slip-up in what is likely to be her final Wimbledon with retirement looming.
She beat Hungarian qualifier Dalma Galfi 6-3 6-4 to set up a third-round clash against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Men’s 14th seed Ben Shelton also made the third round as he outlasted South African qualifier Lloyd Harris in a match lasting close to four hours.
Shelton won a last-set tiebreak 10-7 and will face Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on Saturday.
