Wimbledon: Tsitsipas steams into third round, sets up Kyrgios clash

TENNIS-WIMBLEDON
Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates winning his second round match against Australia's Jordan Thompson. Photo: Reuters/ Hannah Mckay

London: Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas romped into the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday with an accomplished 6-2 6-3 7-5 victory over Australian Jordan Thompson under the new roof on Court One.

The 23-year-old Greek displayed none of the jitters that lost him a set against qualifier Alexander Ritschard in the first round on Tuesday, breaking Thompson's serve twice in each of the first two sets and winning the match when the Australian put a forehand long after a tight rally.

Thompson, 28, and ranked 76 in the world has never beaten a top-10 player at a Grand Slam tournament and was upset when the umpire overruled a line call, earning his opponent a break point in the seventh game of the second set.

He thumped a ball in frustration when Tsitsipas took the set while the Greek, who next meets another Australian -- temperamental showman Nick Kyrgios -- kept his cool on the other side of the net.

 

Nick Kyrgios
Australia's Nick Kyrgios acknowledges the crowd after winning his second round match against Serbia's Filip Krajinovic. Photo: Reuters/ Toby Melville

Kyrgios blows away Krajinovic
Australian Nick Kyrgios delivered a devastating serving masterclass at Wimbledon as he blasted past Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 6-2 6-3 6-1 in 85 minutes on Thursday.

There were none of the chuntering umpire complaints or run-ins with fans that were a feature of his first-round match – Kyrgios barely had time – as he pounded down 24 aces, with only one double fault overall. He took the first set without dropping a point before many fans had even taken their seats.

Krajinovic, ranked 31st but seen as a dangerous floater on grass after reaching the Queen's Club final earlier this month, could do nothing in the face of the barrage as Kyrgios did not let up from start to finish.

In all he dropped just nine points on serve and smoothly mixed up power and finesse to hit 50 winners - a stark contrast to his five-set struggle to overcome British wild card Paul Jubb in the first round.

"I think just getting over the line in that first round was massive," Kyrgios said. "I've been playing some really good tennis in the last month so I was really surprised the way I played the other day. But I was in my zone today, great body language.

"It's nice to remind everyone that I'm pretty good," he added, raising a laugh from the fans on Number Two Court.

"I've been preparing for this tournament, it's been circled on my calendar pretty much all year and I'm so excited to be here again. It's genuinely a tournament I think is my best chance to win a Grand Slam, but I’ll take it match-by-match.

"Obviously I've got an incredibly tough draw but today I couldn't play better and now I can just recover and get ready."

Kyrgios has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals only once, on his debut in 2014. To help his preparations he withdrew from the doubles after his win on Thursday. "I'm a singles player and I want to give myself my best chance," he said.

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