Veteran Lleyton Hewitt and young gun Nick Kyrgios are the lone Aussies left in the Wimbledon draw after a disastrous day at the All England Club for their countrymen and women.
Five Australians were eliminated in second-round matches overnight, including Bernard Tomic, who went down in four sets to Tomas Berdych. Tomic started strongly against the sixth seed and claimed the first set 6-4 before losing the next two in tie-breaks. Berdych then flexed his playing muscle in the fourth, booking his spot in the next round by winning 6-3.
Tomic, who tweaked his troublesome hip in the second set, said Berdych was too good in the stretch. “It’s disappointing, but he is a very good player on grass,” he said of the Czech star. “I tried my best, and it’s only my sixth,seventh tournament back. I was happy with the way I was going and feeling.”
Fellow Australian Marinko Matosevic lost his second-round encounter against France’s Jeremy Chardy in an epic five-setter 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. It was a disappointing end for Matosevic, who won the first grand slam match of his career at the French Open last month.
Casey Dellacqua also fell overnight, the 29-year-old surrendering in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 against fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in less than an hour. “I don’t think the (second set) score was a reflection of how I played, to be honest,” Dellacqua said after the match. “I thought she had to play some good tennis to beat me.” Also eliminated were Jarmila Gajdosova and Luke Saville.
Hewitt takes on Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz in his second-round match tonight, while Kyrgios battles Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
