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Wimbledon 2022: No. 2 Kontaveit, No. 3 Ruud upset; Djokovic onto third round

Serbian Novak Djokovic returns a shot against Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at Wimbledon 2022 on Wednesday in London. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
1 of 5 | Serbian Novak Djokovic returns a shot against Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at Wimbledon 2022 on Wednesday in London. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

June 29 (UPI) -- Top-seed Novak Djokovic raced to a straight-sets win, while women's No. 2 Anett Kontaveit and men's No. 3 Casper Ruud sustained second-round upsets at Wimbledon 2022 on Wednesday in London.

Djokovic, the three-time defending men's singles champion, dispatched of Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in two hours. He converted 5 of 13 break points in the 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory. Kokkinakis fired 11 aces and 31 winners, but failed to convert his lone break point opportunity.

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"I'm very happy with my performance," Djokovic said in his on-court interview. "I thought I started off very well. I was very solid from the back of the court and made him work for every point."

Djokovic will face fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the third round.

Ruud, of Norway, sustained the worst upset loss so far among men's players at Wimbledon 2022. He won his first set 6-3 against Ugo Humbert. The Frenchman then roared back to win the final three sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.

Humbert fired 10 aces, 53 winners and converted 6 of 11 break points. Ruud logged six aces, 21 winners and converted 4 of 9 break points.

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Humbert will battle David Goffin of Belgium in the third round. Goffin beat No. 31 Sebastian Baez of Argentina in the second round.

No. 23 Frances Tiafoe of the United States, No. 32 Oscar Otte of Germany and American Steve Johnson were among the other top men's players who advanced early Wednesday.

Kontaveit sustained the worst upset loss up, for women or men, to this point at the tournament. German Jule Niemeier beat the Estonian in straight sets Wednesday in London.

Kontaveit failed to record an ace, logged just seven winners and did not register a break point opportunity in the 58-minute match.

Niemeier totaled two aces, 13 winners and converted 4 of 4 break point opportunities. She will meet Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in the third round.

Tsurenko beat fellow Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina in her second-round match.

No. 8 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and No. 33 Zhang Shuai of China were among the top women to advance early Wednesday. Pegula and Dart won first-round matches, which were suspended from Tuesday because of rain.

German Tatjana Maria, who upset No. 26 Sorana Cirstea in three sets, and Harriet Dart of England also won Wednesday matches.

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No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 4 Paula Badosa of Spain, No. 6 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, Pegula and No. 11 Cori "Coco" Gauff of the United States will be among the top women's players in action Thursday at Wimbledon.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain, No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, No. 11 Taylor Fritz of the United States and No. 13 Denis Shapovalov of Canada will be among the top men in action Thursday in second-round matches.

Wimbledon 2022 will run through July 10. Coverage will air on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.

Moments from Wimbledon 2022

Serbian Novak Djokovic kisses the Wimbledon trophy after victory against Australian Nick Kyrgios at the Wimbledon championships in London on July 10. It is his seventh Wimbledon championship title. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo

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