Rybakina, Bublik advance to Wimbledon 2026 second round
Kazakhstan's top-ranked tennis players, Elena Rybakina and Alexander Bublik, advanced to the second round of Wimbledon 2026 after winning their opening-round matches, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Both players came through long, dramatic first-round encounters on the grass courts in London, sealing their victories in deciding sets.
Former Wimbledon-2022 champion and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina was pushed hard by France's Lois Boisson, ranked No. 154 in the WTA rankings.
Rybakina secured a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory after recovering from a disappointing second set, in which she struggled with unforced errors. She regained her composure in the decider, broke serve at a crucial moment, and closed out the match, finishing with six aces.
Rybakina will next face the winner of the match between Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse and the American Caty McNally.
On the men's side, Kazakhstan's No. 1, Alexander Bublik, the tournament's 10th seed, staged an impressive comeback to defeat Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Bublik prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 6-4 after nearly four hours of play. After narrowly losing a dramatic third-set tiebreak, he took the fourth set and then secured the decisive break in the fifth game of the final set.
The Kazakhstani fired 28 aces, edging Kokkinakis by one ace.
Bublik will next face France's Kyrian Jacquet in the second round.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva and Alexander Shevchenko were eliminated from the singles draw at Wimbledon 2026 in the opening round the previous day.
