WEDNESDAY, JULY 5
Nearly all first-round singles matches were completed Wednesday after rain postponed many of them in the days prior at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Two Bruins were among the players who posted results, with Marcos Giron proving victorious while Maxime Cressy was felled in four tiebreaker sets.
Giron prevailed in straight sets against Hugo Dellien of Bolivia, while Cressy was bested by Serbian Laslo Djere. Former UCLA standout Mackenzie McDonald dropped a four-set decision versus No. 23-seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan Monday.
Giron took control of a first-set tiebreaker with Dellien, seizing the first five points en route to the advantage. Giron would go on to nab breaks of serve for 3-2 in the subsequent two sets and ultimately notched the win by a 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 margin. He meets Márton Fucsovics of Hungary in second-round play Thursday, at approximately 6:25 a.m. PT.
Up against the curfew time in London, Cressy was edged out of a second-round spot late Tuesday by Djere. There were just four total breaks in the matchup of ATP top-60 singles players, with each tallying one in the first set and another in the second. Each of the final two tiebreakers went beyond a seventh winning point, with Djere finally coming out on top of the 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 7-6(8), 7-6(7) result.
Like Cressy, McDonald won his first set before dropping a narrow decision. Bublik’s 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory does not represent the end of McDonald’s time at the event, however, as he is slated to begin doubles play alongside Ben Shelton Thursday. Giron and partner Botic van de Zandschulp start Friday, as do Cressy and Andrey Golubev. Bruin Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arévalo, who make up the seventh-seeded pair, also kick off play Friday.
On the women’s side, the eighth-seeded doubles combination of UCLA’s Ena Shibahara and partner Shuko Aoyama get underway Thursday at approximately 7:10 a.m. PT.
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