July 2 (UPI) — American Taylor Fritz and Poland’s Iga Swiatek were among the top players to advance through the early wave of matches Thursday at Wimbledon 2026.
No. 15 Diana Shnaider suffered Thursday’s first major upset, dropping her second-round match in straight sets to fellow Russian Lieudmila Samsonova (No. 41).
Fritz beat fellow American Patrick Kypson (No. 113). The world No. 7 edged Kypson 19-3 in aces and 34-23 in winners in the 6-2, 6-2, 7-5 triumph. He also converted 6 of 19 break point opportunities, compared to Kypson’s 1 for 1 clip.
“It feels really good to get through the first two rounds in three straight,” Fritz said on the ESPN broadcast. “I’m really happy with it.”
Fritz, a Wimbledon 2025 semifinalist, will meet No. 88 Gabriel Diallo of Canada of Italy in the third round.
No. 6 Alex de Minaur of Australia also advanced Thursday with a straight-sets victory over No. 40 Adrian Mannarino of France. He will take on No. 66 Zachary Svajda of the United States or No. 45 Kamil Majchrzak of Poland in the third round.
On the women’s side, Swiatek needed just 70 minutes to eliminate No. 73 Karolina Pliskova of Czechia. The world No. 3 will meet No. 32 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the third round.
Eala advanced with a win over No. 87 Maya Joint of Australia, who ousted American Serena Williams in her first-round match.
No. 22 Madison Keys of the United States also advanced Thursday with a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over No. 196 Katie Swan of Great Britain.
Samsonova edged Shnaider 4-1 in aces, 30-10 in winners and converted 5 of 7 break point opportunities, compared to her foe’s 3 of 9 clip, in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory Thursday at the All England Club.
She will take on No. 23 Marie Bouzkova of Czechia in the third round. Bouzkova beat No. 172 Tyra Caterina Grant of Italy in straight sets on Day 4 of the grass-court major.
No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 6 Amanda Anisimova of the United States and No. 12 Linda Noskova of Czechia are the other top women in action on Day 4.
No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 14 Jiri Lehecka of Czechia and No. 19 Frances Tiafoe of the United States will be among the top men’s players with Thursday matches.
Second-round Wimbledon coverage will continue Thursday on ESPN. Third-round coverage will start at 6 a.m. EDT Friday on the same network.
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