Dent into 3rd round in singles

Taylor Dent, a former Corona del Mar High standout, has reached the

third round of men’s singles competition at Wimbledon following a

grueling first-round tennis match and a sweep in the second round at

The All England Lawn Tennis Club.

In women’s singles play at Wimbledon, second-seeded Maria

Sharapova, a member of the Newport Beach Breakers, the defending

World Team Tennis champions, also reached the third round following a

6-0, 6-1 victory over Sesil Karatantcheva Thursday.

Dent, ranked 29th in the Association of Tennis Professionals point

standings this year, earned a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Newport

Coast resident Kevin Kim in the second round Wednesday.

Dent is scheduled to face Tomas Berdych in today’s third round.

A victory would propel Dent, 24, to the round of 16 at Wimbledon

for the first time in five appearances.

The 1996 CIF Southern Section boys singles champion reached the

third round at Wimbledon in 2002 and 2004.

He has four career ATP singles titles and is $28,546 away from $2

million in career earnings.

Sharapova, the No. 2 seed and defending Wimbledon champion, won

her 19th straight match on grass and faces Katarina Srebotnik of

Slovenia in the third round Saturday.