Roberta Vinci’s hopes of successive Wimbledon ladies’ doubles titles are intact after she and Italian compatriot Karin Knapp upset the No.8 seeds to advance to the third round on Saturday.
Vinci and Knapp overcame hard-hitting Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in a see-sawing tussle on Court 16.
The Italians raced away to a 4-0 lead in the opening set before the Czechs found their rhythm and started to make inroads on the match.
The No.8 seeds had it all their own way in the second set, finding the angles and drilling Knapp at the net with a relentless succession of powerful ground strokes; a missed volley from Knapp handed the Czechs the set.
But the Italians settled in the third, Knapp finding her touch at the net to hold off the Czech attack.
“We played a good first set and then the second set, sometimes that can happen, a break or something, and they play better in the second set,” Vinci said.
“At the beginning of the third set we tried to play like the first; more aggressive and we tried to serve good and we won a great match.
“We are so happy we are in the second week of Wimbledon and the next round will be another tough match.”
Roberta Vinci
Wimbledon is just the second Grand Slam Vinci has contested alongside Knapp since announcing her shock split from long-time doubles partner Sara Errani in March, with whom she won five Grand Slam doubles titles and shared the world No.1 doubles ranking.
Vinci and Knapp reached the round of 16 on their Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros last month before falling to top seeds Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.
“It’s nice to play with Karin, of course it’s a little bit different, we know each other not so good as Sara but step by step we play better and it’s nice to play together,” Vinci said.
For Knapp, the opportunity to play alongside Vinci in just her second doubles appearance at SW19 is an honour.
“Playing with Roberta, she is one of the best doubles champions in the world so I’m really happy and we will do our best to go as far as possible,” Knapp said.
Vinci and Knapp will next meet No.9 seeds Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova, who defeated Daniela Hantuchova and Sam Stosur 6-3, 6-0 to advance.
No.10 seeds Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik were the day’s other major casualty, upset by Anna-Lena Groenefeld and the in-form Coco Vandeweghe 7-6(3), 6-3.
The remaining seeds in action on Day 6 all progressed through the draw.
No.3 pair Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova easily accounted for British duo Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith 6-3, 6-0 to set up a third-round clash with Australians Jarmila Gajdosova and Ajla Tomljanovic.
The win keeps alive the pair's campaign for a third successive Grand Slam title, having taken both the Australian and French Open crowns earlier this season.
No.4 seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic ended Monica Niculescu and Olga Savchuk’s run 6-4, 6-4, while Russian duo Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No.11 seeds at SW19, proved too strong for Belinda Bencic and Katerina Siniakova, cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 win.
Spanish No.16 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja were pushed to three sets before overcoming Marina Erakovic and Heather Watson 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-0; their reward is a meeting with top seeds Hingis and Mirza in the third round.
