Wawrinka sent packing

LONDON, July 3 

Reilly Opelka blasted his way into the third round at Wimbledon today as the giant 21-year-old American’s serve eventually proved too hot to handle for triple Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in a high-octane five-set duel.

Opelka came through 

7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 8-6 against the 22nd-seeded Swiss for the biggest win of his career and there will be plenty of bigger names in the draw now scrabbling anxiously for a tape of this match.

At 6ft 11in, the former Wimbledon junior champion is the joint-tallest-ever ATP-ranked player (with Ivo Karlovic) and, unsurprisingly, his biggest weapon is his serve. It reached 228kph today — the fastest of the Championship so far — and, combined with some surprisingly deft court movement, is the perfect Wimbledon weapon. Wawrinka, who has never gone beyond the quarterfinals at the Wimbledon despite winning all three of the other Slams, could not deal with it at all in the first set. — Reuters

Murray and Serena form the dream team

The all-star duo of former world No. 1s Andy Murray and Serena Williams will play Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarachi in the first round of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon. Murray, who is easing his way back into the sport following a radical hip resurfacing, announced he was joining forces with Williams in an all-star partnership. “It’ll be great,” Murray said.

Day 3: Highlights

Djokovic’s diligence     

Defending champion Novak Djokovic eased into the third round after beating Denis Kudla 6-3 6-2 6-2. Last year’s finalist Kevin Anderson beat Janko Tipsarevic 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4.

HALEP VS AZARENKA 

Simona Halep’s first Grand Slam meeting with a fellow Romanian ended in victory as she battled past Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3 4-6 6-2. The seventh seed takes on Victoria Azarenka next who beat Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 6-0.

SILKY PLISKOVA  

Former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, who warmed up for Wimbledon by winning the title at Eastbourne, continued her good form on grass with a 6-0 6-4 win over Monica Puig.

Svitolina sizzles

Russian Margarita Gasparyan, who beat Elina Svitolina in the first round at Birmingham last month, moved towards another upset against the Ukrainian by taking the first set 

7-5 before a leg injury forced her to quit while trailing 5-6 in the second.

EDMUND ousted

Briton Kyle Edmund surrendered a two-set lead before going down 4-6 4-6 7-6(3) 

6-3 6-4 to Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in a marathon encounter lasting three hours and 43 minutes.

KILLER KHACHANOV

Russian 10th seed Karen Khachanov bounced back after losing the first set to beat 37-year-old Feliciano Lopez 4-6 6-4 7-5 6-4.