Sabalenka and Alcaraz Survive as Upsets Sweep Through Wimbledon Draw

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, said she would welcome an end to the upsets at Wimbledon, and her position in the draw explains why. By Wednesday, July 2, 2025, she was the only one of the five top-seeded women still in the bracket.

Sabalenka needed to dig deep on Centre Court against Marie Bouzkova, who was ranked 48th. Three times she was two points away from losing the opening set, but she took it 7-6 (4) and closed out a 6-4 second set. Bouzkova had moved ahead 6-5 after a Sabalenka double-fault produced the first service break of the match, and she then served for the set. On the final occasion, at deuce, Sabalenka produced a forehand volley winner and then a down-the-line backhand winner to save it. "That was a tough moment," she said. She then won the last three points of the tiebreaker from 4-all and finished with 41 winners against 18 unforced errors.

Sabalenka has three Grand Slam titles, all won on hard courts at the Australian Open or U.S. Open. She lost the French Open final to Coco Gauff last month and has never gone beyond the semifinals at the All England Club. She missed Wimbledon last year because of a shoulder injury. Her next opponent is 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu.

The seeds have fallen in large numbers. Wednesday's exits included No. 4 Jasmine Paolini, last year's runner-up, along with No. 12 Diana Shnaider, No. 21 Beatriz Haddad Maia, No. 22 Donna Vekic and No. 29 Leylah Fernandez. They followed No. 2 Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen. In total, 23 seeded players, 10 women and 13 men, were gone after two days, equaling the most at any Grand Slam in the past 25 years. It is also the first women's major of the Open era in which two of the top three seeds lost their opening matches.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz beat Ollie Tarvet, a University of San Diego student ranked 733rd, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Alcaraz saved three break points in his first service game and faced eight in all, saving all but two. The win extended his streak to 20 matches. He praised the qualifier, saying, "I just love his game to be honest." Alcaraz next meets either 25th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime or Jan-Lennard Struff as he pursues a third consecutive Wimbledon title.

Among the men, American Frances Tiafoe, the No. 12 seed, lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 to Cameron Norrie. Fifth-seeded Taylor Fritz survived a second straight five-setter, beating Gabriel Diallo 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3. Eighteen-year-old Joao Fonseca of Brazil defeated Jenson Brooksby to become the youngest man in the third round since Bernard Tomic in 2011. He will face Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry, who beat Learner Tien in straight sets.

Raducanu, meanwhile, beat 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 in front of a lively Centre Court crowd. "That was one of the best matches I've played in a long time," she said. Sixth-seeded Madison Keys beat Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2 in 75 minutes and will play Laura Siegemund. Naomi Osaka reached the third round for the first time since 2018 by beating Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-2, on her daughter Shai's second birthday. Twelfth-seeded Amanda Anisimova also advanced.

The record heat of the first two days gave way on Wednesday to rain, which delayed play on the smaller courts by about two hours, and temperatures fell from above 90 degrees to below 68. On Thursday, Novak Djokovic opens Centre Court against Britain's Dan Evans at 1:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. PT), followed by Iga Swiatek against Caty McNally and top-seeded Jannik Sinner against Aleksandar Vukic.