Wimbledon: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is the last top-five women's seed left. Carlos Alcaraz wins

LONDON (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka joked that she'd love it if the upsets at Wimbledon would stop, which makes sense, given that she is ranked No. 1.

She's also the only one of the five top-seeded women still in the bracket after No. 4 Jasmine Paolini, last year's runner-up, followed No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen on the way out.

Sabalenka was two points from dropping the opening set of her second-round match three times on Wednesday before asserting herself for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Marie Bouzkova.

In all, a record-tying 23 seeded players — 10 women, 13 men — were gone by the end of Day 2, equaling the most at any Grand Slam event in the past 25 years. Five more women joined them by losing Wednesday: Paolini, No. 12 Diana Shnaider, No. 21 Beatriz Haddad Maia, No. 22 Donna Vekic and No. 29 Leylah Fernandez.

“Of course you're going to know the overall picture,” Sabalenka said, then added with a chuckle: "I hope it’s no upsets anymore in this tournament, if you know what I mean.”

She is a three-time Grand Slam champion, with all of those titles coming on hard courts at the Australian Open or U.S. Open. She also was the runner-up to Gauff at the clay-court French Open last month — drawing criticism from some over her post-match comments, a flap she and Gauff set aside via social media videos last week — but hasn't been past the semifinals on the grass of the All England Club.

A year ago, Sabalenka was forced to miss Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder.

On Wednesday, the record-breaking heat of the first two days gave way to rain that delayed the start of play on smaller courts for about two hours, along with temperatures that dropped from above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) to below 68 F (20 C).

At Centre Court, the 48th-ranked Bouzkova went ahead 6-5 in the first set with the match's initial service break thanks to a double-fault by Sabalenka. Bouzkova served for that set, and was two points away from it at 30-15 in that game, again at 30-all, then once more at deuce.

But on the last such occasion, Sabalenka came through with a forehand volley winner she punctuated with a yell, followed by a down-the-line backhand winner that was accompanied by another shout.

“That was a tough moment," said Sabalenka, who will face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu next. “Until that point, (my) return wasn’t great enough to break her serve. I'm really glad ... everything clicked together and I was able to break her back. I kind of like felt a little bit better.”

That sent them to a tiebreaker, and from 4-all there, Sabalenka took the next three points, ending the set with a powerful forehand return winner off a 67 mph second serve. In the second set, the only break arrived for a 3-2 lead for Sabalenka, and that was basically that.

Sabalenka compiled a 41-17 edge in winners while making only 18 unforced errors in a match that lasted a little more than 1 1/2 hours.

Raducanu defeated 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3, and Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who is seeded sixth, beat Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2. In men's action, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz extended his winning streak to 20 matches with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 733rd-ranked qualifier Oliver Tarvet, who plays for the University of San Diego, and No. 5 Taylor Fritz got past Gabriel Diallo of Canada 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3 for his second consecutive five-set win. But No. 12 Frances Tiafoe joined the parade of seeds exiting, eliminated by 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Cam Norrie 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.

Novak Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 major championships at Wimbledon, will lead off the Centre Court schedule on Day 4 against Britain's Dan Evans at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), followed by Iga Swiatek vs. Caty McNally, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. Aleksandar Vukic.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. wipes his face during a change of ends break as he plays Cameron Norrie of Britain during their second round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Oliver Tarvet of Britain, right, chat after their second round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Madison Keys of the U.S. returns to Olga Danilovic of Serbia during their second round singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

Emma Raducanu of Britain celebrates winning the second round women's singles match against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts during her second round women's singles match against Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

NEW YORK (AP) — Make no mistake, New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has heard all the harsh criticism this offseason.

There's no way to duck that much heat — especially when some of it's coming from your own kitchen.

But after saying goodbye to popular slugger Pete Alonso, star closer Edwin Díaz and two other Mets stalwarts before Christmas, a steadfast Stearns remains confident in his vision for 2026 and beyond.

“Clearly, this has been an offseason with a lot of change. Some of that change has been really tough,” Stearns said Tuesday at a Citi Field luncheon with Mets beat reporters.

“I certainly understand that there have been points in this offseason that have been frustrating for our fan base. We’re not blind to that at all. I’m certainly not blind to that. I hear it. I recognize it. I hear it from my friends and family, at times. I’m also very convicted that what we are doing is the right thing for our franchise going forward to accomplish our goals of creating a consistent playoff team. A team that year after year is a true World Series contender.”

In addition to letting Alonso and Díaz leave as free agents, Stearns traded outfielder Brandon Nimmo and versatile veteran Jeff McNeil — both homegrown Mets.

New York signed closer Devin Williams to a $51 million, three-year contract, infielder Jorge Polanco to a $40 million, two-year deal and reliever Luke Weaver to a $22 million, two-year agreement. With the club intent on improving its defense, Gold Glove second baseman Marcus Semien was acquired from Texas in the trade for Nimmo.

“It has not been hard for me to stay patient and stick to my principles,” said Stearns, raised in New York City. “I grew up a Mets fan. I love the Mets. I am committed to doing this job in a way that I think truly sets us up for success for a sustained period of time. That’s why I want to be here.

“And so I think that end goal and that end desire and that motivation makes it much easier for me to not be swayed by some near-term sentiment. As difficult as near-term sentiment can be, and certainly in this town as loud as it can be, I understand ultimately what our task is, what our mission is, and I believe we’re on our way to achieving it.”

Looking for a big bat in the outfield to pair with Juan Soto, the Mets are believed to be pursuing free agent Kyle Tucker, who batted .266 with 22 homers, 73 RBIs and an .841 OPS in 136 games for the Chicago Cubs last season.

Last year’s World Series teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, are thought to be the other finalists for Tucker.

New York finished 83-79 last season and missed the playoffs even though owner Steve Cohen was on track to be baseball's second-biggest spender at $431 million in projected payroll and luxury tax.

“What we’ve done previously has not been good enough. We all know that. I certainly know that. And we’ve got to do better,” Stearns said. “We have elite talent at the top of our major league roster. We’ve got a very good farm system. And we’ve got a very good present-day major league team as we sit here today that’s going to get better before we get to opening day.”

Stearns, a small-market success while running the Milwaukee Brewers, pointed to young Mets players like catcher Francisco Alvarez, third baseman Brett Baty and pitcher Nolan McLean as reasons for both immediate and long-term optimism.

“We do think we’ve got a really special crop of young starters,” Stearns said. “I think to this point we’ve yielded really good prospects, and the next challenge for us is let’s turn them into really good major league players.

“I think we’re going to be able to be a good team and win games in somewhat different ways than maybe we have over the past couple of years, and the roster we’re putting together I think will reflect that.”

Top prospect Carson Benge will get a chance to make the big league team out of spring training, possibly in center field.

“We think this is going to be a really good player who’s going to be good here for a long time. Whether that begins on opening day, I’m not sure yet,” Stearns said. “There’s not a lot that we don’t like.”

Left-handed reliever A.J. Minter, rehabbing from surgery for a torn left lat muscle, probably won't be ready for opening day. “But it shouldn’t be too far into the season,” Stearns said.

Christian Scott is expected back following Tommy John surgery in September 2024.

“He’ll be fully ready to go. Exactly how we ramp his season, I think we still have to determine that,” Stearns said.

Third baseman Mark Vientos is expected to get playing time at first along with Polanco.

Stearns said Soto has “worked incredibly hard” on improving his defense this offseason in the Dominican Republic.

“I think Juan can get materially better and I think Juan is the type of person and player when he puts his mind to something, generally achieves it,” Stearns said. “We have to be better at keeping runs off the board. Our pitching and defense has to be better.”

McLean and fellow right-hander Clay Holmes are set to pitch for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic in March.

“We are having conversations with both of those guys about workload,” Stearns said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

FILE - New York Mets' Pete Alonso gathers his belongings in the dugout after the Mets lost to the Miami Marlins in a baseball game, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky,File)

FILE - New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns responds to questions during a news conference about MLB trade deadline deals, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith, File)