Sobolenko makes Wimbledon debut: is it worth waiting for a sensation?

Athletistic/Tennis. On July 4, the second racket in the world among women, the representative of Belarus, Arina Sobolenko, will enter the fight at Wimbledon. In the first round, a native of Minsk will meet Hungarian Panna Udvardi.

The bookmakers are confident in Sobolenko’s victory. No feeling? Arina did not prepare well for the start of Wimbledon – already in the second round of the tournament in Berlin she lost to Veronika Kudermetova. And that’s all. The Belarusian only played two games on the surface, but here’s an interesting fact – she scored 10 aces there, five in each encounter. Even if in the first round of Wimbledon against Udvardi Sobolenko does not show strong tennis, then she is forced to maintain the level of service. The fast British grass should help him hit more often. Since Udwardy doesn’t have a powerful first strike, she won’t have to rely on aces. According to this indicator, Arina is forced to surpass her very decently. Udvardi is having a weak season and is likely to drop out of the top 100 in the near future. Today, the Hungarian tennis player is the 82nd racket in the world. In total, since the beginning of the year, she has won only nine victories on the circuit, while suffering 12 defeats. On the grass, Panna has never been known for her successful performances. This year, she has only played one match, losing in qualification at Eastbourne against Bogdan (4-6, 4-6). Sobolenko throughout the season is trying to compete with Polish Ige Sventek in the fight for the title of the world’s first racket. Arina has the Australian Open 2023 title, as well as trophies at competitions in Adelaide and Madrid.

It’s hardly worth the wait for the plot. Sobolenko noticeably surpasses her rival in class. The favorite will have no problem. Moreover, Udvardi performs unsuccessfully throughout the season and could not demonstrate anything even on clay. On grass, Panna has very little experience and she has a minimum of chances against the second racquet in the world.

Recall that earlier Sobolenko at Wimbledon addressed reporters with a warning: “I would like to say that I will not talk about politics. I am here to talk about tennis only. Please show respect. If you have political questions, you can ask the WTA or the tournament organizers, they will send you the transcripts of my answers from previous tournaments. What reception do I expect from the London public? I do not expect anything, I just hope they support me, like they have for the past few years.

On Tuesday July 4, the following matches ended at Wimbledon in women’s singles:

Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan, 3 years old) – Shelby Rogers (USA) – 4:6, 6:1, 6:2
Ons Zhaber (Tunisia, 6) — Magdalena Frech (Poland) – 6:3, 6:3

In 2022 Wimbledon was won by Kazakhstan representative Elena Rybakina from Moscow.

Andrey Andreev, Sport.Ru