The tourney across the pond is well underway, and already the results out of Wimbledon are favorable towards some of #USTennis brightest young stars – many of them, products of Southern California!
Starting with the gentlemen, the story of the tournament so far is former #UCLABruins champion Mackenzie McDonald, who opened the fortnight with his first career Wimbledon main draw win, securing a fourth set tiebreaker over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania. In the 2nd Round, “Mackie” went the distance (and then some) in a five set thriller and emerged victorious with an 11-9 deciding set. He meets Guido Pella of Argentina. Pella eliminated #3 Marin Cilic in a five-set stunner earlier this week.
Taylor Fritz
Sam Querrey (Santa Monica) cruised in his first round and notched a routine win in the second, leading to a forthcoming showdown with the exciting Frenchman Gael Monfils. Bradley Klahn (Poway) and Taylor Fritz (Palos Verdes) also won opening round matches and each draws a formidable second round opponent. With a win over Yuichi Sugita (JPN), Klahn next meets home court favorite #21 Kyle Edmond. Fritz faces an even tougher battle with #4 Alexander Zverev of Germany.
It was a tough road for Steve Johnson (Redondo Beach), who suffered a five set defeat in the opening round opposite Ruben Bemelmans, who was later eliminated by the top-ranked American John Isner in another five-setter. Jared Donaldson (Irvine) dropped his first two sets in the second round, only to storm back and even the match against #31 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. Both players looking drained in the fifth, Tsitsipas eventually emerged victorious. Jack Sock, the #18 seed, was quietly dispatched in the opening round.
Jennifer Brady
On the ladies’ side, Coco Vandeweghe (Rancho Santa Fe) and defending US Open titlist Sloane Stephens both suffered opening round losses. Vandeweghe, the #16 seed, split the first two sets before falling 8-6 in the third to Katerina Siniakova (CZE), while #4 Stephens was ineffective in a lopsided defeat at the hands of Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Claire Liu (Thousand Oaks) started strong with a first round victory at the All England Club, but the draw was unlucky when she stood opposite #11 Angelique Kerber of Germany, a finalist in 2016. Liu came out swinging and notched the first set, but Kerber elevated her game to secure the win in three sets.
Still alive in the second round, former #UCLABruins standout Jennifer Brady won her first round encounter in three sets, and will meet #28 Anett Kontaveit (EST) in her next match. Venus and Serena Williams have both advanced to the second round.
Vania King (Monterey Park) was a straight set winner in her opening doubles match alongside teammate Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.
Follow your local SoCal athletes as they compete year ’round!