Wimbledon: Sabalenka survives big scare to battle past Gracheva and book spot in third round

Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed at the Championships, had to fight back from a set down to move into the third round of Wimbledon, eventually overcoming Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 to record a hard-fought win.

After a second set in which the Belarusian was outplayed by her opponent, Sabalenka remained under pressure in the second until finally making the breakthrough at the end of that set to clinch it 7-5.

With that set under her belt, Sabalenka put her foot on the accelerator to breeze through the final set. She will play Russian Anna Blinkova next.

In the previous round of The Championships, the Belarusian defeated Hungarian Panna Udvardy (6-3, 6-1).

Gracheva, ranked No 41, beat Italian Camila Giorgi (6-2, 6-4) in the previous round of The Championships.

London (Grand Slam), other second-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 16.077.000, most recent results first):

• Ons Jabeur vs. Zhuoxuan Bai
• Bianca Andreescu vs. Anhelina Kalinina: friday
• Anna Blinkova beat Irina-Camelia Begu (29): 7-5, 6-3
• Dalma Galfi beat Jule Niemeier: 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1
• Marta Kostyuk beat Paula Badosa: 6-2, 1-0 ret.
• Petra Kvitova (9) beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich: 6-2, 6-2
• Ekaterina Alexandrova (21) beat Madison Brengle: 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7)
• Madison Keys (25) beat Viktorija Golubic (Q): 7-5, 6-3
• Natalija Stevanovic (Q) beat Tamara Korpatsch (LL): 7-5, 7-5
• Jessica Pegula (4) beat Cristina Bucsa: 6-1, 6-4
• Anastasia Potapova (22) beat Kaja Juvan (Q): 6-3, 7-5
• Elena Rybakina (3) beat Alize Cornet: 6-2, 7-6 (2)
• Belinda Bencic (14) beat Danielle Collins: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
• Donna Vekic (20) beat Sloane Stephens: 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
• Caroline Garcia (5) beat Leylah Fernandez: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6)
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto beat Rebeka Masarova: 6-3, 6-1
• Katie Boulter (WC) beat Viktoriya Tomova: 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
• Marie Bouzkova (32) beat Anett Kontaveit: 6-1, 6-2
• Magda Linette (23) beat Barbora Strycova: 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3
• Sorana Cirstea beat Jelena Ostapenko (17): 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4
• Beatriz Haddad Maia (13) beat Jaqueline Cristian: 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Mirra Andreeva (Q) beat Barbora Krejcikova (10): 6-3, 4-0 ret.
• Marketa Vondrousova beat Veronika Kudermetova (12): 6-3, 6-3
• Victoria Azarenka (19) beat Nadia Podoroska: 6-3, 6-0
• Ana Bogdan beat Alycia Parks: 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Lesia Tsurenko beat Katerina Siniakova: 6-4, 6-1
• Sofia Kenin (Q) beat Xinyu Wang: 6-4, 6-3
• Elina Svitolina (WC) beat Elise Mertens (28): 6-1, 1-6, 6-1
• Petra Martic (30) beat Diane Parry: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Sara Sorribes Tormo: 6-2, 6-0
• Daria Kasatkina (11) beat Jodie Burrage (WC): 6-0, 6-2