Top 10 seeds Sakkari and Paolini advance at Wimbledon; Sun upsets Zheng

Top 10 players Maria Sakkari and Jasmine Paolini won straight-sets first-round matches at Wimbledon on Monday, but Zheng Qinwen was the first Top 10 player to suffer a defeat this fortnight, losing to qualifier Lulu Sun of New Zealand.

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Sun shocks Zheng: World No.123 Sun collected a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No.8 seed Zheng, this year's Australian Open runner-up. Sun took 1 hour and 57 minutes to clinch a spot in the second round.

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It was a breakthrough victory for Sun in many ways. Not only was it the first Top 10 win of her career, it was her first win over a player ranked inside the Top 50. This was also her first Grand Slam main-draw victory, in just her second major main-draw appearance.

Additionally, Sun was nearly eliminated in qualifying last week. She had to save a match point in the second round of qualies before defeating Gabriela Knutson in a final-set 10-point tiebreak.

The 23-year-old Sun is the first woman representing New Zealand to reach the second round of a Grand Slam since Marina Erakovic's run to the Wimbledon third round in 2016.

Sun will meet her fellow qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round, after Ukraine's Starodubtseva beat Alison van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-3 for her first career Grand Slam main-draw win. Starodubtseva has successfully come through qualies at all three Grand Slams this year.

Sakkari rolls: Earlier, No.9 seed Sakkari of Greece clinched her spot in the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over American qualifier McCartney Kessler. Sakkari needed 1 hour and 11 minutes to oust World No.119 Kessler.

It was an important Grand Slam victory for Sakkari. The Greek has already won 20 matches at tour-level this year, but she had lost in the first round at four of the last five Grand Slam events.

"It felt a lot better than I expected," Sakkari said afterwards. "Obviously, you know, I've been struggling a little bit in Grand Slams in the last couple of tournaments, you know, with first-round losses. So that was in my mind.

"But I feel like today I was brave and strong enough to just overcome that fear. I think it was pretty solid from a tennis standpoint."

Sakkari is now a win away from making the third round of a Slam for the first time since the 2023 Australian Open. Her next opponent is Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, who reached the second round of Wimbledon for the first time since 2012 by beating Yuan Yue 6-2, 6-3.

Sakkari has a commanding 5-0 head-to-head lead over Rus. One of those wins was a 6-1, 6-1 dismissal in the first round of 2021 Wimbledon.

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Paolini prevails: Meanwhile, No.7 seed Paolini of Italy posted her first-ever main-draw victory at Wimbledon by defeating Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-5, 6-3.

Roland Garros runner-up Paolini had lost in the first round of Wimbledon the last three years running, but she broke that duck by toppling 55th-ranked Sorribes Tormo in 1 hour and 37 minutes. 

Coming into this year, Paolini had never won a main-draw match at any grass-court event on tour. But Paolini carried her Roland Garros momentum into Eastbourne last week, where she won two matches on grass before falling to eventual champion Daria Kasatkina.

In Monday's match, Paolini grinded out a nearly hour-long first set, then built a 4-0 lead in the second set. Sorribes Tormo battled back on serve at 4-3, aiming to deny Paolini a maiden victory in London, but Paolini regrouped to win the next two games and advance.

"This year I started good in Eastbourne, I think, and I'm trying to adapt good on this surface," Paolini said afterwards. "It's kind of different tennis, but also I enjoy it. I think today was a good match. But I think I have to raise up a little bit the level for the next match because it's going to be tough."

Paolini's next grass-court challenger will be Greet Minnen of Belgium, after World No.80 Minnen ousted British hope Heather Watson 7-5, 6-4 on Monday. It will be the first meeting between Paolini and Minnen.