Struff match abandoned: Wild favorites' demise at Wimbledon continues

Doesn't anyone want to win Wimbledon? Several tennis superstars are knocked out of the tournament on the first few days of the grass court classic. A German hopeful also has to bow out, with Jan-Lennard Struff serving detention.

At Wimbledon, the next top player was eliminated in the second round: last year's finalist Jasmine Paolini, seeded fourth, suffered a surprise defeat to Russian Kamilla Rakhimov 6:4, 4:6, 4:6. This means that after three days of the tournament, five of the world's top ten players have already been eliminated: Coco Gauff (USA/No. 2), Jessica Pegula (USA/No. 3), Zheng Qinwen (China/No. 5), Paula Badosa (Spain/No. 9), and Paolini. In the men's singles, following world number three Alexander Zverev, 12th seed France Tiafoe also suffered a surprise exit. The American lost 6:4, 4:6, 3:6, 5:7 to unseeded Briton Cameron Norrie.

The number 1, however, didn't let herself slip: Aryna Sabalenka prevailed in her second-round match against Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) 7:6 (7:4), 6:4. Briton Emma Raducanu caused a stir with a 6:3, 6:3 victory against Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion and winner of the preparatory tournament in Berlin.

The 29-year-old Paolini celebrated her breakthrough last year, reaching the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. She also won Olympic gold in doubles alongside fellow countrywoman Sara Errani in Paris. This season, she won the title at her home tournament in Rome, but suffered early exits from the Grand Slams: in the third round in Melbourne and in the round of 16 in Paris.

Eva Lys is eliminated after a tough fight

German tennis hopeful Eva Lys was also eliminated, missing out on her first attempt at Wimbledon's top 32 after a tough battle with a 2-6, 6-2, 3-6 loss to Czech Linda Noskova. Despite her elimination, Lys takes positive things from Wimbledon: "I'm sad I didn't make it. But it was a good experience on grass for me." This will help her "more and more" in the future, she said.

For Lys, reaching the second round for the first time was already a small achievement. In her match against Noskova, seeded 30th, she struggled to cope with the Czech's aggressive play at the start, trailing 3-0 after just ten minutes. Lys, after losing the first set, came into the match better, capitalizing on several errors from her opponent. In the deciding set, both players were clearly nervous. After several breaks, Noskova broke serve for the first time and claimed the victory.

Queen's champion Tatjana Maria and young talent Ella Seidel were eliminated in the first round on Tuesday. A particularly bitter blow: Seidel (20) twisted her ankle in the second set of her match against Spaniard Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro, tearing a ligament in her right ankle.

Struff has to stay after school

Jan-Lennard Struff, on the other hand, can still hope for a third-round appearance. The 35-year-old's match against 25th-seeded Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime was abandoned this evening due to darkness with Struff trailing 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), and the rematch was postponed until Thursday.

Struff, who is the last remaining German player at the All England Club after Alexander Zverev's first-round exit (Laura Siegemund has already made it to the third round), fended off four set points in a thrilling second-set tiebreak and heads to bed with a positive feeling. The Warsteiner has been searching for his form recently. His first-round victory against Austrian Filip Misolic was his first Grand Slam win this year.