Pella Knocks Out No. 3 Seed Cilic at Wimbledon
Argentina’s Guido Pella ousted last year’s runner-up at Wimbledon with a comeback victory over third-seeded Marin Cilic on Thursday, finishing up a rain-interrupted match from the day before to advance with a 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-5 victory.
The match was resumed in the third set on Thursday after rain halted play on Wednesday, and Pella took full advantage of the break.
“Every time you play these types of players, they try to break your serve inb the first game so they can get confidence,” said Pella. “And I think that’s what he got in the first two sets. He broke me a lot of times, I couldn’t move well on this surface—it’s not my favorite surface but I’m trying to improve my game—so after that rain came, I felt much more confident in my game. I served much, much better and I was so calm until the end because I lost three match points before I could close the game. So I am very happy.”
Pella will take on American Mackenzie McDonald, who booked his third-round spot with a 7-6(5), 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 11-9 over Nicolas Jarry on Wednesday.
John Isner had his match on Wednesday suspended until Thursday, but was able to avoid the same fate as Cilic. Isner hung on to beat Belgian Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-7(3), 7-5.
Isner meets Radu Albot of Moldova for a spot in the final 16.
Both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic cruised in their respective second round matches. The 12th seeded Djokovic rolled past Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, while Nadal, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Frances Tiafoe continued his London run with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over France’s Julien Benneteau on Thursday. Tiafoe is now into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career where he will play Karen Khachanov, who won 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(4), 7-5 over Marcos Baghdatis.
Thomas Fabbiano took out former quarterfinalist Stan Wawrinka 7-6(7), 6-3, 7-6(6) in a match that was resumed on Thursday after being suspended the day before. Fabbiano takes on 31st seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the third round. Tsitsipas ousted American Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3.
Juan Martin del Potro powered past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez to advance into the third round. The fifth-seeded Argentine needed just one hour and 35 minutes to win 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
In the next round, del Potro meets France’s Benoit Paire, who took out 26th seed Denis Shapovalov 0-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3).
Other notable winners on Thursday included eighth-seed Kevin Anderson, 15th seed Nick Kyrgios, 24th seed Kei Nishikori and Jiri Vesely, who upset 14th seed Diego Schwartzman in straight-sets.
