Upset Alert
Ekaterina Makarova, whoe came into the tournament seeded eighth, lost in straight sets to Magdalena Rybarikova, while twenty-fifth seeded Alize Cornet was beaten in three sets by Olga Govortsova and seventeenth seeded Elina Svitolina was sent home by Casey Dellacqua. On the men's side, veteran Feliciano Lopez lost to upstart Nikoloz Basilashvili. Basilashvili, who is playing in just his second Slam main draw, has earned $89,412 in singles so far this year and he'll bring in at least $120,000 from his Wimbledon campaign alone. Thirtieth seeded Fabio Fognini was also shown out at the hands of Canadian Vasek Pospisil. The biggest shock/non-shock (depending on your personal view) upset of the day came on Centre Court as Rafael Nadal was once again sent packing by a low-ranking opponent.
Speaking of Nadal
With Nadal's recent trend of play, it's tough to call his loss a shock upset. But here's a fun tidbit that really showcases his recent struggles at the big W: after appearing in five Wimbledon finals (2006-08, 2010-11) with two titles, Nadal has now lost four straight times to opponents with triple-digit rankings: Lukas Rosol (100), Steve Darcis (135), Nick Kyrgios (144) and now Dustin Brown (102).
Nadal's Section
With Nadal's loss and David Ferrer's pre-tournament injury, their section of the draw is somewhat depleted and will produce a first-time, surprise semifinalist. James Ward, Vasek Pospisil, Viktor Troicki, and Dustin Brown will all be vying for an open quarterfinal spot.
The King of Variety
Roger Federer may not be the same player he was a few years ago, but he's still an undisputed great. Federer was in full flight yesterday against Sam Querrey, putting the American away in straight sets and treating fans to this insane tweener lob.
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Unfortunate Politics
The doubles team of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Malek Jaziri withdrew from their second round match against Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner. The official reason given was a foot injury to Garcia-Lopez, but there's plenty of speculation that the real reason was that Jaziri, who is Tunisian, was avoiding a potential third round matchup against Israeli Jonathan Erlich. There is, unfortunately, a pattern of similar behavior as Jaziri has avoided matches against Israeli players on at least two prior occasions.
Kvitova, Keys, and the Crumbling Quarter
Petra Kvitova's quarter lost 12th seeded Genie Bouchard on Day 2, and two more seeds exited that quarter yesterday—25th seeded Alize Cornet and 8th seeded Ekaterina Makarova were both sent packing. Meanwhile, Kvitova continues her ruthless, winning ways. She's through two matches and she's only lost three games. Madison Keys—who now won't have to face a seed until the quarterfinals—Aga Radwanska, and Jelena Jankovic are the other seeds remaining in that quarter.