Bouzkova, Navarro advance to Wimbledon third round

Marie Bouzkova and Emma Navarro, who met in the final of the Nottingham Open two weeks ago, both advanced to the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday with contrasting victories.

No. 21 seed Bouzkova recovered from an early break deficit in the opening set to defeat Italian qualifier Tyra Caterina Grant 7-5, 6-3. The Czech advanced to 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 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.