Vladson Credits Little Brother for Win over No. 4 Seed Penickova; Only Six Girls Seeds Advance to Third Round, with Roland Garros Finalists Tested; Shelton Reaches First Wimbledon Quarterfinal

©Colette Lewis 2025--
Wimbledon--

Down a set to No. 4 seed Kristina Penickova of the United States, Laima Vladson of Lithuania had a secret weapon: her seven-year-old brother David. Like his 17-year-old sister, David was a making his second visit to the All England Lawn Tennis Club, cheering her first career victory on Saturday, then watching as she eliminated this year's Australian Open girls finalist 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the second round of the Wimbledon Junior Championships.

"He's my little mascot, so I have to take him everywhere; he's become a lucky charm," said Vladson, ranked 21 in the ITF junior rankings and a recent W15 champion on clay, prior to switching to the brief junior grass season in Roehampton and Wimbledon. 

Frustrated by her level in the first set after losing four straight games and briefly down a break in the second set, Vladson had nothing but confidence when she faced the prospect of winning a tiebreaker to reach a third set.

"This year, in the tiebreaks, I'm doing really well," said Vladson, who speaks colloquial, unaccented English. "That's what I have confidence in. I'm pretty sure it's like 12 tiebreaks to 3 I'm winning, quite a lot. So I was just like, you got this girl, just go for it."

Vladson rode that momentum to a 4-0 lead in the third set, but Penickova fought back, holding for 4-1, then breaking and getting another hold to pull to within a game. But Vladson held at love in the next game, putting the pressure on Penickova to hold, with Vladson eventually converting her fourth match point with a forehand that forced an error.

"I knew she was going to fight back," said Vladson, who trains in Riga Latvia with former ATP Top 250 player Andis Juska."This is the top level that you can get and you have to be ready for everything. Even if you're up 5-0, 40-0 it can go away very quickly unless you lock in."

Vladson noted the similarities between her game and Penickova's.

"We like to hit flat and fast," Vladson said. "I came out there and I was like ok, Laima, you're just playing yourself, basically. But it's all in the mind. I was trying to keep focus and not yell out or anything, just try to stay in the court and in the game."

Up next in Wednesday's third round for Vladson and her mascot is 2024 Wimbledon girls semifinalist Vendula Valdmannova of the Czech Republic, who beat No. 14 seed Luna Cinalli of Argentina 6-3, 6-2.

Roland Garros finalist Hannah Klugman of Great Britain, the No. 2 seed, and Roland Garros champion Lilli Tagger of Austria, the No. 3 seed, were assigned to Show Court 18 for their second round matches today, and both offered some gritty tennis to emerge with victories in front of the appreciative crowds. 

Klugman played first, when the cool and breezy conditions were most challenging, but she recovered from dropping her serve to open the third set against Anastasija Cvetkovic of Serbia to win the final six games in a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory.

In the last match of the day, Tagger could not shake qualifier Lea Nilsson of Sweden, who served for the second set at both 5-4 and 6-5, yet escaped the rare two-hour, two-set grass match 7-6(5), 7-6(4).

"It was a really tough match," said the 17-year-old, one of the rare girls who hits a one-handed backhand. "Especially in the second set, she started to play really well. On the backhand side especially, pushing very hard the ball, so it was tough for me to find a way. It was fast, and in the evening getting faster."

Tagger was disappointed in her returning in the first set, but her serve bailed her out often and a good first at 5-all in the opening set tiebreaker proved crucial, with Nilsson neeting a forehand to end it.

In the second set tiebreaker, a delicate drop shot winner gave Tagger a mini-break, which she protected to build a 6-3 lead. Needing to win both of her serves to stay in the match, Nilsson got a forehand error from Tagger on the first, but Tagger's aggressive return forced an error on the second to seal the victory.

"In the first set I made a lot of mistakes on return, so this was the key in the match, in the end, returning," Tagger said.

Tagger said she doesn't feel much different coming into Wimbledon as the Roland Garros champion, but does detect a change in perspective from her opponents.

"I feel more confident in the matches but myself, I don't feel a lot of difference," Tagger said. "The difference I think is how the other players watch me. Before, maybe they didn't really care about me, who I was, what I was doing. Now they come to watch me, and if I lose, see how I lose."

In the third round, Tagger will face British wild card Ruby Cooling, who beat No. 16 seed Rositsa Dencheva of Bulgaria 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

No. 6 seed Julieta Pareja is now the only American girl remaining after she defeated wild card Flora Johnson of Great Britain 6-2, 6-2. On Tuesday her third round match will be a repeat of the ITF J300 Roehampton final, with Pareja beating Elizara Yaneva of Bulgaria 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 last Friday. Yaneva defeated No. 10 seed Julia Stusek of Germany 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

Pareja and top seed Emerson Jones of Australia were the only seeds to cruise to the third round, with 2024 Wimbledon girls finalist Jones beating Yoana Konstantinova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-1.

The boys first round of doubles Monday featured one upset and two retirements. Yannik Alvarez and Jack Secord defeated No. 3 seed Jamie Mackenzie and Niels McDonald of Germany 6-4, 6-3, while the other seven seeded teams advanced.

No. 5 seeds Keaton Hance and Jack Kennedy moved into Wednesday's second round when Luis Miguel of Brazil retired with an injury. He and Ziga Sesko of Slovenia trailed 6-7(5), 3-3 when Miguel, unable to serve with any pace, called for the trainer and eventually retired. Miguel won his first round singles match Saturday, so is scheduled to play his second round Tuesday.

While Miguel's retirement in doubles was voluntary, Alejandro Arcila of Colombia's was not. Arcila had earlier been hit in the head by partner Dominick Mosejczuk's serve, and after they had taken a 6-3 second set from No. 2 seeds and Roehampton champions Timofei Derepasko of Russia and Jacopo Vasami of Italy, called for a trainer.  After an evaluation, Arcila went into concussion protocol, and he was not cleared to resume play for the match tiebreaker, with Derepasko and Vasami advancing 6-3, 3-6, retired.

The girls first round of doubles and the boys second round of singles are on Tuesday's schedule, with no rain in the forecast.

Tuesday's junior singles matches featuring Americans:

Gavin Goode[Q] v Nikita Bilozertsev(UKR)

Jack Secord v Benjamin Gusic-Wan[WC](GBR)

Maxwell Exsted v Mees Rottgering[3](NED)

Benjamin Willwerth[7] v Yannik Alvarez(PUR)

Keaton Hance v Niels McDonald[5](GER)

Matisse Farzam[Q] v Timofei Derepasko[15](RUS)

Jagger Leach[4] v Thijs Boogaard(NED)

Jack Kennedy[8] v Jan Kumstat(CZE)

Ronit Karki[Q] v Yannick Alexandrescou[9](ROU)

Dominick Mosejczuk v Alan Wazny[14](POL)

Noah Johnston v Jacopo Vasami[2](ITA)

In the fourth round today in Wimbledon men and women's singles, No. 10 seed Ben Shelton reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 win over Lorenzo Sonego of Italy. Emma Navarro, also a No. 10 seed, lost to No. 7 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia 6-2, 6-3.

In Tuesday's quarterfinals, No. 5 seed Taylor Fritz will face No. 17 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia and No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova wil play unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.