London, July 2 (IANS) Marie Bouzkova and Emma Navarro, who met in the final of the Nottingham Open two weeks ago, advanced to the Ladies’ Singles third round of Wimbledon 2026 with contrasting victories at the All-England Club in London on Thursday.

While Bouzkova overcame Italian qualifier Tyra Caterina Grant in straight sets, Navarro rallied past Oksana Selekhmeteva in three sets as both advanced to the next stage.

No. 21 seed Bouzkova recovered from an early break in the opening set to defeat Grant 7-5, 6-3, reaching the third round at Wimbledon for the third time. Her best Grand Slam result came at the All England Club in 2022, when she reached the quarterfinals.

The Czech improved to 7-2 on grass this season and will next face Liudmila Samsonova, last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist, who upset No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the third round. Samsonova holds a 3-2 edge in the head-to-head series on the WTA Tour, Driven by Mercedes-Benz, although Bouzkova won their only previous meeting on grass.

Navarro, who fell to Bouzkova in the Nottingham final, rallied past Oksana Selekhmeteva 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the third round at the All England Club for the third consecutive year. The American reached the quarterfinals in 2024 and the fourth round last year.

She has now won 14 of her past 18 tour-level matches and will next face either No. 12 seed Marta Kostyuk or Anna Blinkova.

Earlier on Wednesday, in a battle of Grand Slam champions, Barbora Krejcikova ousted No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, making a comeback to win in a thriller. Krejcikova needed seven match points, but she ultimately advanced to an all-Czech third-rounder at Wimbledon.

The two-time Grand Slam champion will next face Czech compatriot Nikola Bartunkova in the third round. Bartunkova upset No. 32 seed Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-4 to advance to her second Grand Slam third round of 2026.

Wednesday marked the second occasion the two faced at Wimbledon’s second round, with Andreeva winning 6-3, 4-0 ret. in her Wimbledon debut, where she ultimately reached the Round of 16. However, Wednesday would be a different story as Krejcikova now earns her second win in five tries over Andreeva, who exits Wimbledon after a quarterfinal run here a year ago.

.–IANS

bsk/