Rybakina tested by Cornet, Wawrinka sets up Djokovic clash

LONDON -- Defending champion Elena Rybakina came through an eventful second round, which saw her opponent Alize Cornet take a nasty fall before completing a 6-2, 7-6(2) victory over the French veteran.

The second set alone lasted 82 minutes and saw the third-seeded Rybakina commit an uncharacteristic 32 unforced errors.

Cornet - a self-described giant-slayer - has a history of pulling off big upsets at Wimbledon, having snapped Iga Swiatek's 37-match winning streak at the Championships last year, and having defeated top-seeded Serena Williams here back in 2014.

But Rybakina would not suffer a similar fate, as she saved all six break points she faced during the match to move into a third-round meeting against home favorite Katie Boulter.

"For sure the atmosphere is going to be a bit different. The crowd won't be supporting me that much. I'm sure it's going to be good. Hopefully I'm going to win this match. I try my best. We see how it's going to go," Rybakina looked upon her next-round match.

Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka took out No.29 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in second-round action and is through to a Grand Slam third round for the first time since Roland Garros 2020.

The 38-year-old will next face Novak Djokovic for the 27th time on tour, with Djokovic leading 20-6 in their head-to-head record.

"Don't tell me the [head-to-head] score," Wawrinka joked when being asked about his long rivalry with the Serbian.

"I will enjoy if I don't get killed," laughed the Swiss.

"He's been an amazing champion to watch, the way he's playing, it's always special. But we never played on grass and I'm quite happy to have the chance to play against him on grass at least one time before I finish playing. It's going to be a big challenge.

"Hopefully I can play at a higher level and be competitive in the match. I'm going to, like always I did against him, try to push the maximum and we'll see what happens."

The three-time major winner hasn't made it past the second round at Wimbledon since 2015 and admitted his chances will be slim against Djokovic, who is going for a fifth consecutive triumph at the All England Club, and eighth overall.

"There's zero opportunity to win Wimbledon for me, I think," said Wawrinka.

The feature match of the day on Centre Court saw home favorite Andy Murray go up 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-4 against No.5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas under the lights before the clash was suspended ahead of Wimbledon's 11pm curfew.

Murray is chasing the 200th Grand Slam match-win of his career while Tsitsipas is trying to make the third round at the Championships for just the third time in six appearances.

The British three-time major winner had a scary moment late in the third set as he fell and screamed in pain but managed to get up and close out the set before play was halted.

Croatia's Donna Vekic looked down and out when she trailed former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 4-6, 2-5 in their second round on Thursday.

But the No.20 seed somehow turned things around and walked away having won 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, moving into the Wimbledon third round for the first time since 2018.

An emotional Vekic couldn't hold back tears during her on-court interview.

"I always said to my team that I think Sloane is one of the best players in the world and I think she definitely showed that today. It was an incredibly tough match today and I honestly cannot believe I won," said Vekic, who faces Czech lefty Marketa Vondrousova next.

Meanwhile, Sweden's world No.59 Mikael Ymer rallied back from two-sets-to-love down to upset last year's quarter-finalist and No.9 seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the Wimbledon third round for the first time on his third appearance.