London: Australian Open champion and second-seeded Li Na was eliminated 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) on Friday by Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the first major upset at Wimbledon.
Li looked out of sorts for most of the third-round match on Court 1 and blew a set point in the second set.
In men’s play, top-seeded Novak Djokovic overcame a hard fall in the third set to advance to the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 Centre Court win over Gilles Simon.
Leading 3-2 in the third set and with Simon serving, Djokovic lunged for a forehand shot and fell hard to the grass, rolling over and grabbing his upper left arm and grimacing in pain.
But after taking a medical timeout and receiving treatment by a trainer, he recovered to play out the final four games of the match.
Djokovic will play Jo-Wilfried9 Tsonga, who beat Jimmy Wang of Taiwan 6-2, 6-2, 7-5, in the fourth round on Monday.
Zahlavova Strycova called her win over Li the biggest of her career. The Czech player thought she had won the match and went to the net to shake Li’s hand after a forehand was called out. But Li challenged the call and the ball was ruled in, continuing the match until Li double-faulted on match point.
In other matches, French Open finalist Simona Halep and former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki won their matches after rain delayed the start of play for about 30 minutes.
Halep advanced with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in a second-round match. French Open champion Maria Sharapova booked her place in the third round with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 win against Swiss qualifier
Federer breezes through Seven-time champion Roger Federer breezed into the Wimbledon third round on Thursday with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 win over Luxembourg qualifier Gilles Muller.
Federer goes on to face either 30th-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain or Santiago Giraldo of Colombia for a place in the last 16. Federer sent down 25 aces and won 91 percent of the points on his first serve.
Results:
Men: 3rd rd: Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Gilles Simon (FRA) 6-4, 6-2, 6-4; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x14) bt Jimmy Wang (TPE) 6-2, 6-2, 7-5; Kevin Anderson (RSA x20) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA x16) 4-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 2nd rd: Feliciano Lopez (ESP x19) bt Ante Pavic (CRO) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5; Santiago Giraldo (COL) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP x30) 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 1-6, 6-1, 7-5; Women: 3rd rd: Ekaterina Makarova (RUS x22) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA) 7-5, 6-3; Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x16) bt Ana Konjuh (CRO) 6-3, 6-0; Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) bt Li Na (CHN x2) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5); 2nd rd: Simona Halep (ROM x3) bt Lesya Tsurenko (UKR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Belinda Bencic (SUI) bt Victoria Duval (USA) 6-4, 7-5.
