THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, LONDON — 19 minutes after rain fell on No. 2 Court for the second time, Clara Tauson stepped up to the line to serve against a former Wimbledon champion at 4-2, 40-30 in the second set. Having held all the momentum for most of the match, the Dane again had to summon it anew after a delay.
Tauson slammed down a first serve, and Elena Rybakina could only drill it into the net.
Two games later, Tauson delivered another upset in a tournament full of them, knocking out one of two former champions left in the draw 7-6(6), 6-3.
Rybakina’s 2022 title run showcased her natural affinity for grass. Her serve, the platform for everything else in her game, also wipes out her opponents’ hope. The easy acceleration on her groundstrokes sends the ball skidding through the baseline, cutting lines through the court. When she is on her game on grass, she plays with an ominous serenity. Everything just flows.
So Tauson put up as many dams as she could. From the early exchanges, the No. 23 seed sought to redirect and to disrupt. She changed patterns from crosscourt to down the line. She sliced off both wings. And most importantly, where Rybakina kept breaking the baseline, Tauson broke the sideline. Rybakina’s linear power is fundamental to her game, but Tauson’s biggest limitation is her movement, from side to side and up and down. Rybakina could not move Tauson sideways, but Tauson could move Rybakina out of her baseline encampment.
Tauson earned more break points than Rybakina in both sets, and moved ahead in the first-set tiebreak before Rybakina pegged her back. The tennis scoring system means that “deserving” a set is almost a non-factor, but Tauson deserved to eke out the tiebreak. Down the stretch, she dealt better with the disruptions and difficult, windy conditions than Rybakina, who missed a number of mid-court balls through not getting quite into position, including on the final point.
Tauson defended a heavy ball out of her backhand corner, slicing it short to the center of the court. Rybakina moved up onto the ball ready to dispatch a forehand into the open court, but lifted it long. She stared in disbelief as Tauson raised her arms, and Wimbledon opened up a little further.
‘One former champion left in the women’s draw’
As well as Tauson, the big winner from Rybakina’s exit is Iga Świątek, if she can get past Danielle Collins later on Saturday.
Świątek was due to play Rybakina in the next round, and has lost four of their previous nine meetings. When they met at the French Open a month ago, Rybakina won the first set 6-1 before Świątek came back to win a tight three-setter.
Świątek and Tauson meanwhile have only met once before — a three-set win for the former at Indian Wells in 2022.
Rybakina’s defeat also means there’s only one former champion left in the draw, the relatively unfancied No. 17 seed Barbora Krejčíková. This speaks to the unpredictability of the women’s event here, as well as the struggles former Wimbledon champions have had in recent times. Serena Williams, who won her seventh and final title in 2016, is the last woman to win it and then subsequently reach a final, while this is the first Wimbledon in the Open Era to have no former champions among the top 10 seeds.
Świątek would be a tricky matchup for Tauson, who is in the second week for the first time. Collins would be a straight shootout between two big hitters which might suit her, especially given the way she maneuvered Rybakina. Świątek however is a master of joysticking opponents in and out of the corners, and would test Tauson’s movement more significantly.
Whatever happens from here, this has been another really positive week for Tauson, who will climb into the world’s top 20 for the first time in her career.
(Photo: Julian Finney / Getty Images)
