Lauren Davis celebrates victory in her women's singles second-round match against Angelique Kerber of Germany at Wimbledon on July 4, 2019 in London.
This Fourth of July isn’t one that 25-year-old Lauren Davis is ever likely to forget.
Ranked No. 95 in the world and in Wimbledon’s main draw as a lucky loser, Davis pulled off the upset of the tournament thus far when she stunned defending champion and former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Davis is one of 10 U.S. players moving on after Wimbledon’s second round wrapped up on Thursday.
Kerber, of Germany, defeated Serena Williams to win the title last year and came in ranked No. 5 but Davis, who lost in qualification last year at Wimbledon, bounced back from a first-set loss to dominate the final two sets and advance to the third round. The Gates Mills, Ohio, native, who was ranked No. 252 at the end of 2018, hit 45 winners, broke Kerber seven times and closed out the match in just under two hours.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Serena Williams rebounded after a sluggish start and a first set loss to defeat 18-year-old Kaja Juvan of Slovenia, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Williams struggled with timing in the first set but turned the tables in the second to force a tiebreaker. With her serve on point in the third and Juvan battling unforced errors, Williams had little difficulty closing things out and advancing to the third round.
Coco Gauff will see the third round of play as she continues her eye-opening run at Wimbledon.
After ousting five-time Olympic medalist Venus Williams in the first round, the 15-year-old prodigy continued on with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Magdalena Rybarikova, a 30-year-old from Slovakia who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon two years ago.
Gauff became the youngest player to win a match in the main draw coming out of qualifying since 1991 when she beat Williams in the first round.
Joining her in making some waves in the second round was Danielle Collins, 25, who defeated No. 12 Anastasija Sevastova, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Olympian Sloane Stephens handled her match against China’s Wang Yafan with ease, winning 6-0, 6-2 in 54 minutes, to move on.
Alison Riske will also move on to the third round after beating Serbia’s Ivana Jorovic, 6-2, 7-6 (3), 9-7.
On the wrong end of an upset was Olympian Madison Keys, who fell to Slovenia’s Polona Hercog in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
No. 27 Sofia Kenin, the 20-year-old who defeated Serena Williams at the French Open, also saw her run end at the hands of Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, and No. 25 Amanda Anisimova, the 17-year-old who advanced to the semifinals of the French Open, fell to Poland’s Magda Linette, 6-4, 7-5.
Madison Brengle lost to the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova, 6-3, 6-4, and Taylor Townsend fell to No. 4 Kiki Bertens, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
On the men’s side, John Isner, the highest-ranked American at No. 9, fell after a back-and-forth match with unseeded Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Isner was a semifinalist last year but is coming off a broken foot suffered in March.
There were a few upsets that went the Americans’ way, however.
Unseeded Reilly Opelka, who is making his debut at Wimbledon, scored a win over No. 22 Stan Wawrinka, the three-time major champion from Switzerland, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6. It was just the sixth Grand Slam match of the 21-year-old’s career.
Another unseeded U.S. man, Olympic doubles medalist Steve Johnson, toppled No. 25 Alex de Minaur, of Australia, in a five-set victory, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. It was Johnson’s first win in his last 10 matches against Top 30 opponents.
Sam Querrey, a 2008 Olympian, advanced with a quick 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Russia’s Andrey Rublev.
Denis Kudla’s run ended at the hands of No. 1 Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, who won easily in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Taylor Fritz also fell against No. 33 Jan-Lenard Struff, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (2).
Team USA’s last competing player in Round 2 was Tennys Sandgren, who endured a wild five-set match with No. 20 Gilles Simon of France. After winning the first two sets, 6-2, 6-2, Simon roared back to take the next two, 4-6, 6-3. Sandgren then rallied back in the fifth set to take the match 8-6.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
