Wimbledon Day 5 recap: Berrettini, Djokovic, and Tsitsipas moving on

Friday at Wimbledon saw a few more marquee matchups as the draws slowly begin to weed out the competition. Matteo Berrettini dispatched the 15-seed Aussie Alex de Minaur in a comfortable straight-sets performance. Berrettini is rounding into form nicely and could be a threat with his big weapons on serve and the forehand wing.

5-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was able to overcome a 2 sets to 1 deficit as he fought past Andy Murray 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. The Greek only faced one break point in the entire match. This was back-to-back 5 set wins for Stefanos who came into Wimbledon on the back of a poor grass court season. He has to be pleased!

Marketa Vondrousova sprung an upset as she took out the 20-seed Donna Vekic 6-1, 7-5. She was able to break the Croat 4 times in the short match. Canadian Bianca Andreescu felled another seed in the form of 26th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina. It’s good to see the 2019 US Open champion playing well again on the big stage.

All you need to know from Wimbledon on day 5

In a battle of top 20 seeds on the women’s side, No. 19 Victoria Azarenka continue her mini renaissance as she booked a Round of 16 berth by besting No. 11 Daria Kasatkina in a very comfortable 6-2, 6-4 performance.

Two unseeded players had perhaps the match of the day in the form of Lesia Tsurenko and Ana Bogdan who battled in a never-ending 3rd set tiebreak that finally ended 20-18 in favor of Tsurenko. Both women were physically exhausted at the conclusion.

The top seeds on both sides, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, faced no troubles as they cruised to straight-set victories.

Local hero Liam Broady was not able to follow up his upset of No. 4 Casper Ruud as he was defeated by the mercurial Denis Shapovalov in 4 sets.

A big upset on the men’s side saw Mallorca winner Chris Eubanks stun the No. 12 seed and last year’s semifinalist, Cam Norrie 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3). It gives the big-serving American a spot in the 3rd round at Wimbledon.

No. 19 Alexander Zverev and No. 8 Jannik Sinner both needed four sets to overcome their less-heralded opponents, but they both came through relatively unscathed. Zverev is into the 3rd round while Sinner has booked a 4th round appearance.

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic clashed with 3-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka. The irresistible Serbian cruised in the first two sets before Wawrinka turned back the clock in the 3rd. Both players maintained high levels of tennis as it went to a tiebreak before Novak was able to finish it off.

In a battle of two players on the comeback trail, it was the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina who came out on top 7-6 (3), 6-2 over the American Sofia Kenin. Svitolina is into the Round of 16.

5th-seeded Caroline Garcia was knocked out of the Championships by the 32-seed Marie Bouzkova across three very tight sets. The women’s draw continues to open up to the surprise of nobody.

Top-10 seeds Daniil Medvedev, Petra Kvitova, and Jessica Pegula all made short work of their opposition on Friday and are looking more and more comfortable as they move on.

A top-20 seed matchup in the men’s draw saw No. 14 Lorenzo Musetti fall to the heavy-hitting Pole Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4. This is an example of the scoreboard not telling the whole story as there was nothing to separate these two most of the match. Hurkacz gets to face Djokovic in the next round.

Finally, both the men’s and women’s 6-seeds, Holger Rune and Ons Jabeur, won comfortably once again. They have seemingly been flying under the radar as they have strolled into the 3rd round.

We have reached the first weekend at the Wimbledon Championships and things are beginning to heat up. Bigger names are continuing to square off with more regularity so the action is can’t-miss.