While some players finished their third-round matches on Friday, in the Saturday afternoon (Day 6), two-time champion Petra Kvitova was still in the second round of Wimbledon, waiting for the resumption of her encounter with Ekaterina Makarova. The last second-round match of the tournament turned out to be a major upset, as the tenth-seeded Czech lost 7-5 7-6(5) on Court No.2. It was a slugfest that officially lasted one hour and 53 minutes, but in reality it dragged for two days due to rain, so the tennis colleague at the other side of the net was not the only opponent players had to conquer.
I felt stuck in the second round for a while. I think that the tournament was really weird for me this time. I was waiting all day long almost every day to be scheduled on, and didn’t really have a chance to finish or step on the court. — Petra Kvitova
Russia’s Makarova broke Kvitova’s serve in the 11th game of the first set and held on to the lead in the following game to take the set, as the Czech missed her opportunities to break back. After an exchange of breaks in the early phase of the second set, the first lead being Kvitova’s 2-0, Makarova sealed the win in the tiebreak on yet another forehand unforced error by Kvitova, her 43rd unforced error in the match.
More Czech resistance awaits Makarova, as her third-round opponent will be Barbora Strycova. (photo: Jimmie48)
