London, July 1: Jiju Bergs faced Hugo Humbert for the second time in less than 48 hours. This match took place at the All England Club during the first round of men’s singles at Wimbledon, where Bergs successfully repeated his victory from the Eastbourne final on Sunday.
Bergs started strong against the 27th seed. Despite Humbert’s attempts to rally, Bergs held his ground, winning the match on Court 17 with scores of 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3. The Belgian player had previously defeated Humbert after losing the first set in the Eastbourne final.
This victory is particularly significant as Bergs, currently ranked 37th in the world, began his campaign at Eastbourne after suffering six consecutive losses on tour, a streak that had persisted since mid-April.
Following his title win, Bergs has now secured six consecutive victories. He aims to extend this winning streak when he faces Portugal’s world number 98 qualifier, Jaime Faria.
In another first-round match on Tuesday, Otto Virtanen pulled off a stunning upset, defeating fourth seed Ben Shelton in a thrilling five-set match. Virtanen saved a match point during the encounter, which lasted four hours and 21 minutes, finishing with scores of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(8), 6-2, 7-6(11-9). The Finnish player saved a match point at 8/9 in the decisive 10-point tiebreak before clinching his first match point after Shelton’s forehand went out.
This victory over the world number 5, Shelton, marks Virtanen’s biggest win of his career according to the PIF ATP rankings. Prior to this, he had never defeated a top-20 player. Once ranked 91st in the world, Virtanen secured his place in the Wimbledon main draw for the second time after advancing through the qualifying rounds at Roehampton last week. In the second round at the All England Club, the 25-year-old Virtanen will face world number 114, Arthur Fery, who previously defeated Damir Zumur with scores of 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
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