Argentine tennis player Francisco Comesaña (122nd ATP singles ranked) continued to make history at Wimbledon on Wednesday after beating Australian Adam Walton (101), 7-5, 1-6, 6-7 (12), 6-1, 7-6 (8) in over four hours to reach the tournament’s third round.
Comesaña’s win made him the first Argentine tennis player to reach the third round in his first participation at Wimbledon since David Nalbandian. The former world number three did it in 2002, part of a historic run that took him all the way to the final.
Despite standing at just 1,78 meters, the Argentine’s biggest weapon against Walton was his serve. Comesaña, a Mar-del-Plata native who’s taking part in his first ever Grand Slam main draw, hit 19 aces to win the game. He will now face Italian Lorenzo Musetti (25) for a spot in the fourth round.
Comesaña had already shocked the tennis world when he beat world number six Andrey Rublev on Tuesday, in what was his Grand Slam debut and his first game against a top-ten-ranked player. “It’s my first time here, I’ve always dreamt of playing at Wimbledon. I’m so happy, I don’t know what to say,” was his emotional statement after the game.
Comesaña is one of only two Argentines still alive in the tournament. Tomás Etcheverry (31) fell 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Australian Alexei Popyrin (47) on Thursday. On Wednesday, Francisco Cerúndolo (30) lost to Russian Roman Safiullin (44) by 6-7 (5), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, while in the women’s draw, Lourdes Carlé (87th WTA singles ranked) fell 6-2, 7-5 to Ukraine’s Katie Volynets (69).
Doubles world number two Horacio Zeballos is set to make his debut on Thursday.