Gauff survives Wimbledon scare, Krejcikova rallies past Andreeva

HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Coco Gauff managed to shrug off her Wimbledon gremlins in the nick of time to avoid another early exit on Wednesday.

The day after seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams' comeback ended in defeat, the player who took the baton from the American great once again looked vulnerable on the grass but dug in to beat Solana Sierra 6-3 3-6 7-6(10-7).

Gauff, the seventh seed, looked on the brink of a third first-round loss at Wimbledon in four years as Argentina's Sierra served for the match at 5-4 in the third set.

But Gauff channelled the warrior spirit of Williams to drag herself back and, after producing a moment of magic at 7-7 in the tiebreak, she sealed victory with an ace to set up a third-round clash with fellow American Claire Liu.

Elsewhere, former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova fought from a set down to systematically dismantle fifth seed Mirra Andreeva 4-6 7-5 6-4 and move into the third round.

Czech Krejcikova made a blazing start against the 19-year-old Russian, who won her maiden major at the French Open a few weeks ago, but her level dropped after she went 3-0 up and she quickly found herself a set down on Centre Court.

The 2024 Wimbledon champion, who also has a French Open crown in her trophy cabinet, found her groove again in the next set to force a decider, where Andreeva's frustrations appeared to boil over in the face of some determined tennis.

Andreeva saved six match points in the decider, but was not able to stop Krejcikova from crossing the finish line and claim only her second victory over the youngster.

Krejcikova will now look forward to a meeting with her Czech compatriot Nikola Bartunkova, while Andreeva threw her racket to her chair and was left to reflect on what could have been after hitting the heights in Paris.

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