Key events
And news from our very own Simon Cambers:
Slightly awkward moments on Centre: At 3-5 in the TB, Daniil Medvedev lost the point & promptly went & sat down, thinking he’d lost the set.
Had to be told. Went back to the baseline, & promptly did lose the set.
The Gilleses found it funny. Medvedev, maybe less so. pic.twitter.com/hObiDEn4j0
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) July 3, 2024
Carlos Alcaraz is just stepping on to No 1 Court, but fancy a quick stroll around the grounds while he warms up? Sure you do. Kartal has been broken for the first time but still leads Burel 6-3, 4-2; Fognini has taken the first set 6-4 against Ruud; Nakashima leads Thompson 6-3, 5-2; Eubanks is on the ropes at 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 down to Halys; Tiafoe is 7-6 up on Coric and Svitolina has secured the first set 7-5 against Linette.
There’s a potential shock brewing on Centre Court, where Medvedev, the world No 5, has surrendered the first set on a tie-break, seven points to three, against the world No 102, Alexandre Muller.
Business-like from Gauff who, following the withdrawal of Aryna Sabalenka, has a superb chance to reach her first Wimbledon final this year. She may need to solve the Iga Swiatek riddle to win the title – the world No 1, who has beaten Gauff in 11 of their 12 matches, is in the other half of the draw – but we’ve still got a long way to go before that plays out. Up next for Gauff will most likely be Kartal, because the Brit has bagged a double break in the second set and leads Burel 6-3, 3-0!
A grinning Gauff speaks:
I’m happy with how I played. I do think I could have played cleaner at some moments, but overall I’m happy to get through to the third round.
I’ve learnt about life a lot [since her first-round exit last year]. The world can make you feel like there’s so much pressure, but it’s just a game. This is the court where I first started here at Wimbledon [where she beat Venus Williams in the first round in 2019], so it’s such a special place for me to play on.
Gauff beats Todoni 6-2, 6-1
… but quickly to No 1 – as Gauff has match point at 6-2, 5-1, and 15-40 on Todoni’s serve. The US Open champion becomes the first name into round three – just as Kartal seals the first set 6-3 with a hold to love!
Gauff is in command as 6-2, 4-1; Medvedev and Muller are still sounding each other out at 4-4 in the first set; but let’s cross over to No 3 Court, where Britain’s Kartal is a game away from taking the opener, leading 5-2.
The next game is on Burel’s serve – but the Frenchwoman isn’t serving well, so this is a real chance for Kartal. Sure enough, here’s a seventh double fault from Burel. Kartal gets to deuce – just as Gauff glides to 6-2, 5-1. Where to look? First No 3 – because Burel gives Kartal the runaround with a drop shot and lob combination – to win the game from deuce ..
Speaking of Americans, Gauff is by no means the only one in action right now. Brandon Nakashima leads Jordan Thompson 5-2, as does Katie Volynets against Maria Lourdes Carle, but Lauren Davis trails by that score to Camila Osorio, Chris Eubanks has lost the first set 6-4 to Quentin Halys, and Frances Tiafoe – after his escape act in round one – is 3-2 up on serve against Borna Coric.
The mixed doubles draw is due to come out this afternoon. There’s a chance we could see Murray v Murray as Jamie will be playing with the American Taylor Townsend.
And no messing around at the start of the second set, because Gauff has already broken Todoni and she leads 6-2, 2-0. Medvedev v Muller is going with serve, and Medvedev leads 3-2.
Gauff is serving for the first set at 5-2, 40-15. And an unreturned serve does the job after just under 40 minutes. The US Open champion has been admonishing herself on serve, having landed just 38% of her first serves, but she shouldn’t be too hard on herself as she has won 83% of those points. The way things are going she could be the first player through to round three.
The 37-year-old Fognini, showing off his recent bleach-blond dye job, is one of several veterans in action today. Later Stan Wawrinka, still playing on at 39, faces Gael Monfils. The pair’s combined age of 76 is the oldest in a Wimbledon men’s singles match since Rod Laver beat Bob Howe in the first round way back in 1971.
The players are back in business on the outside courts. Kartal is 2-1 up on serve against Burel, while the flamboyant and sometimes combustible Italian Fabio Fognini has broken against the recent French Open semi-finalist Casper Ruud and leads 3-1.
Theresa May is in the Royal Box today. Not sure what kind of omen that is on the eve of the general election.
Daniil Medvedev is just getting started on Centre, against the Frenchman Alexandre Muller. Almost every player considers it an honour to be on the main court – except Medvedev, who said after his first-round match he’d rather play every round on No 1, given he’s never lost there. Last year’s semi-finalist blows hot and cold on grass, as he does on clay – it’s only on hard courts that he finds consistency – but the world No 5 is more than capable of another run here, and could meet Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.
This rain is so frustrating. It’s not heavy at all, just on-again, off-again drizzle. But forget the weather watch for a minute, because Todoni has a break-back point on No 1 Court. She goes for it with a backhand down the line, but it crashes into the net. Deuce. Another break point, as Gauff slips on the grass. Gauff shows superb defence and then attacks with a shot that lands bang on the baseline. Deuce. Advantage Gauff. Deuce. Advantage Gauff. Game Gauff for 3-1. But this is getting a bit more interesting.
Kartal v Burel has been halted – as have the other matches on the outside courts. The rain is back. But then it stops. Will they be back on shortly? Your guess is as good as mine.
The prize for the winner of Kartal v Burel is a third-round encounter with Coco Gauff – sorry Gauff or Anca Todoni. Gauff is already threatening to run away with it, leading 2-0, and here’s a second break point in game three. Todoni produces a strong serve and is able to avert the danger. And from there the Romanian gamely holds. Gauff is 2-1 ahead.
Meanwhile there isn’t a spare seat in the house on No 3 Court, where Britain’s Sonay Kartal is taking on France’s Clara Burel. The 22-year-old Londoner, who is ranked No 298 in the world and came through qualifying, claimed the biggest win of her career in the first round, coming from a set down to oust the 29th seed Sorana Cirstea. Kartal won the last 10 games in that match – and makes it 11 games in a row by taking the opener against Burel – who then holds herself. It’s 1-1.
The 19-year-old Todoni, who apparently models her game on the big-hitting 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, underlines that on the first point with an ace. But Gauff doesn’t take long to assert control, getting to 30-40, break point … and Todoni evens out her opening ace with a double fault. Gauff breaks in the first game.
Gauff is back where she announced herself as a 15-year-old in 2019 by reaching the fourth round – beating Venus Williams on the way – and she has a terrific chance of making the final this year, especially as she’s in the weaker half of the draw.
Losing in the first round at Wimbledon in 2023 was a turning point for Gauff. She went on to hire Andy Murray’s former coach Brad Gilbert, won the US Open, reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open and then the French Open last month, so she very much has momentum on her side here.
Here comes Coco, headphones on, as always. The American is playing the qualifier Anca Todoni, who’s flying the flag for Romania after her country’s exit from Euro 2024 last night.
You wait two hours for some tennis action – and then it could all be getting under way at once. The roof is closed on No 1 Court, where the fans are filing in to see Coco Gauff take on Anca Todoni. The players should be on court very shortly. Meanwhile on the outside courts the rain has abated, the covers are off and the nets are up, and play should also begin soon.
A quick run through the matches that will be taking place on the outside courts when we do eventually have some play:
No 2 Court: Fabio Fognini v Casper Ruud
No 3 Court: Sonay Kartal v Clara Burel
Court 12: Botic van de Zandschulp v Ugo Humbert
Court 18: Borna Coric v Frances Tiafoe
Court four: Viktorija Golubic v Jule Niemeier
Court seven: Maria Lourdes Carle v Katie Volynets
Court eight: Brandon Nakashima v Jordan Thompson
Court nine: Camila Osorio v Lauren Davis
Court 11: Quentin Halys v Chris Eubanks
Court 14: Magdalena Frech v Beatriz Haddad Maia
Court 15: Barbora Krejcikova v Veronika Kudermetova
Court 16: Aslan Karatsev v Karen Khachanov
Court 17: Magda Linette v Elina Svitolina
Murray and Raducanu is going to be great … but I miss Serena. Wimbledon just isn’t the same without her. What with Venus not playing here this year either, it’s the first time since 1996 that there’s been no Williams sister in the women’s draw.
The drizzle is back and the courts are being re-covered. Gah. At this rate we’ll have play on the show courts before anywhere else around the grounds. Coco Gauff is up first on No 1 Court at 1pm, against Romania’s Anca Todoni, while Daniil Medvedev kicks off the Centre Court action at 1.30pm against France’s Alexandre Muller.
Murray has nearly gone all the way in mixed doubles at the All England Club before, by the way, having won a silver medal with Laura Robson at the 2012 Olympics. The last all-British pair to win the Wimbledon mixed doubles title, meanwhile, was Jeremy Bates and Jo Durie in 1987.
The good news keeps on coming, because the umbrellas are down, the covers and coming off and we could have some play shortly.
Andy Murray to team up with Emma Raducanu in mixed doubles
So as well as playing with his brother, Jamie, in the men’s doubles, Murray will end his Wimbledon career by hooking up with Raducanu, in news that will stir as much excitement around the All England Club as his partnership with Serena Williams did in 2019. “MurRena” went out in the third round – let’s hope “MurAnu” can go further and that his back injury holds up.
Some breaking news!
Andy Murray will join forces with Emma Raducanu in the Wimbledon mixed doubles draw as he competes at Wimbledon for the final time this week.
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) July 3, 2024
Sean Ingle
Draper sets sights on being ‘great like Murray’ after blowing hot and cold
The king is dead. Long live the ki … well, not entirely. Not yet. But on the day that Andy Murray waved a pained goodbye to his singles career at Wimbledon, Jack Draper stepped in to give the Centre Court crowd – and a primetime BBC audience – a familiar sensation: being put through an emotional wringer by a British No 1 tennis player.
There were loud cries of “Come on Jack” before every big point in his five-set mini epic against Elias Ymer, as well as a fist pump eerily reminiscent of Murray. To further add to the sense of the torch being passed, the 22-year-old Draper even wore a cap when the shadows began to creep across the court.
Fortunately, the sun did not set on Draper’s Wimbledon fortnight – although his 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory against Ymer was far closer than anyone had predicted.
Naturally, there were questions after the match about Murray, who pulled out of the singles earlier in the day with a back injury – which meant that Draper moved from No 2 Court to Centre Court.
“I wouldn’t be here without Andy,” Draper said. “He is an incredible guy off the court, so funny, so genuine, one of a kind. And what a competitor – and what a champion. I think it’s going to be tough to emulate what Andy’s achieved.
“It’s obviously unbelievable. He’s won here a couple times. He’s been part of that Big Four era who were just winning constantly, constantly. But if I just keep on improving, keep on doing my best, I don’t see why I can’t be a great player like Andy has been.”
It was good to see Jack Draper fill the Murray void last night – and throw in some Murray-style drama for good measure too – with a slightly tortured five-set win over the Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer. No doubt the 22-year-old was feeling the pressure having stepped in late to replace Murray in the evening slot, but he showed character to come through while not playing at his best, and there’s guaranteed to be a British man in round three because Draper faces the man he recently deposed as the British No 1, Cameron Norrie, in the second round tomorrow.
Feel free to watch it all and then get stuck into this, because we’re now hearing that there’ll be no play until at least 12.15pm.
Though given the delay we’re facing, two minutes and 20 seconds of video isn’t enough. How about this too – not one of the most celebrated matches of Murray’s Wimbledon career given it was only in the fourth round, but it was certainly one of the most seminal, as he came from two sets to love down to beat Reeeechard Gasquet in the gathering gloom and reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Do get in touch with any of your favourite moments.
Some Murray memories to keep you going:
The current scene.
Do you want the good news or the bad? Let’s start with the bad. The forecast is now worse than first expected, and there could be on-off light rain for the next few hours. Not ideal when the tournament is already playing catch-up. But the weather is looking much better for tomorrow, and there should be an uninterrupted day’s play.
No play until 11.45am at the earliest. At least the defending champion is smiling though.
Remember only Centre Court and No 1 Court have a roof, so the matches on the outside courts won’t be getting under way until the weather sorts itself out.
Uh oh. The drizzle is back. We’re facing a delay.
Hopefully Ruud can do a bit more of this today.
Let’s run through the 11am starters. Sonay Kartal, who is one of five British women to reach the second round – the first time that’s happened in 37 years, plays France’s Clara Burel on No 3 Court, while I’m also looking forward to Fabio Fognini v Casper Ruud on No 2 Court and Borna Coric v Frances Tiafoe on Court 18. Last year’s breakthrough star Chris Eubanks is also in action, along with his fellow American Brandon Nakashima, who faces Australia’s Jordan Thompson. Last year’s semi-finalist Elina Svitolina and the 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova also play their first-round matches. Phew.
A big stack of reading for you.
Today’s order of play
(All times BST)
Centre Court, 1.30pm
Alexandre Muller (Fra) v (5) Daniil Medvedev (Rus)
Naomi Osaka (Jpn) v (19) Emma Navarro (USA)
(1) Jannik Sinner (Ita) v Matteo Berrettini (Ita)
No 1 Court, 1pm
Anca Todoni (Rom) v (2) Coco Gauff (USA)
(3) Carlos Alcaraz (Spa) v Aleksandar Vukic (Aus)
Emma Raducanu (Gbr) v Elise Mertens (Bel)
No 2 Court, 11am
Fabio Fognini (Ita) v (8) Casper Ruud (Nor)
(7) Jasmine Paolini (Ita) v Greet Minnen (Bel)
Stan Wawrinka (Swi) v Gael Monfils (Fra)
Yafan Wang (Chn) v (12) Madison Keys (USA)
No 3 Court, 11am
Sonay Kartal (Gbr) v Clara Burel (Fra)
(12) Tommy Paul (USA) v Otto Virtanen (Fin)
(10) Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) v Juncheng Shang (Chn)
(14) Daria Kasatkina (Rus) v Yuriko Miyazaki (Gbr)
Court four, 11am
Viktorija Golubic (Swi) v Jule Niemeier (Ger)
Lorenzo Sonego (Ita) v Roberto Bautista Agut (Spa)
(11) Maximo Gonzalez (Arg) & Andres Molteni (Arg) v Petros Tsitsipas (Gre) & Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre)
Federico Coria (Arg) & Mariano Navone (Arg) v (7) Wesley Koolhof (Ned) & Nikola Mektic (Cro)
Court five, 11am
Pedro Martinez (Spa) & Jaume Munar (Spa) v Dusan Lajovic (Ser) & Sumit Nagal (Ind)
Camilla Rosatello (Ita) & Laura Samsonova (Cze) v (16) Ulrikke Eikeri (Nor) & Ingrid Neel (Est)
Mirra Andreeva (Rus) & Anastasia Potapova (Rus) v (2) Gabriela Dabrowski (Can) & Erin Routliffe (Nzl)
Hailey Baptiste (USA) & Alycia Parks (USA) v Makoto Ninomiya (Jpn) & Fang-Hsien Wu (Tpe)
Court six, 11am
(5) Simone Bolelli (Ita) & Andrea Vavassori (Ita) v Harri Heliovaara (Fin) & Henry Patten (Gbr)
Nicolas Barrientos (Col) & Francisco Cabral (Por) v (10) Ivan Dodig (Cro) & Austin Krajicek (USA)
Anna Blinkova (Rus) & Mayar Sherif (Egy) v Eri Hozumi (Jpn) & Moyuka Uchijima (Jpn)
(15) Asia Muhammad (USA) & Aldila Sutjiadi (Ina) v Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) & Martina Trevisan (Ita)
Court seven, 11am
Maria Lourdes Carle (Arg) v Katie Volynets (USA)
Constantin Frantzen (Ger) & Hendrik Jebens (Ger) v Pavel Kotov (Rus) & Christian Rodriguez (Col)
Hanyu Guo (Chn) & Xinyu Jiang (Chn) v Leylah Fernandez (Can) & Ena Shibahara (Jpn)
Victor Vlad Cornea (Rom) & Fabian Marozsan (Hun) v Andreas Mies (Ger) & John-Patrick Smith (Aus)
Court eight, 11am
Brandon Nakashima (USA) v Jordan Thompson (Aus)
(12) Nathaniel Lammons (USA) & Jack Withrow (USA) v Marcos Giron (USA) & Alex Michelsen (USA)
Sarah Grey (Gbr) & Tara Moore (Gbr) v (3) Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) & Ellen Perez (Aus)
Cristina Bucsa (Spa) & Nao Hibino (Jpn) v Tatjana Maria (Ger) & Arantxa Rus (Ned)
Court nine, 11am
Maria Camila Osorio Serrano (Col) v Lauren Davis (USA)
Luciano Darderi (Ita) & Fernando Romboli (Bra) v (8) Kevin Krawietz (Ger) & Tim Puetz (Ger)
Adrian Mannarino (Fra) & Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (Fra) v (2) Rohan Bopanna (Ind) & Matthew Ebden (Aus)
(14) Sander Gille (Bel) & Joran Vliegen (Bel) v Francisco Cerundolo (Arg) & Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Arg)
Court 10, 11am
Miyu Kato (Jpn) & Shuai Zhang (Chn) v Angelica Moratelli (Ita) & Nadia Podoroska (Arg)
Elina Avanesyan (Rus) & Oksana Kalashnikova (Geo) v (10) Marie Bouzkova (Cze) & Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spa)
Xin Yu Wang (Chn) & Saisai Zheng (Chn) v Caroline Garcia (Fra) & Kristina Mladenovic (Fra)
(7) Caroline Dolehide (USA) & Desirae Krawczyk (USA) v Shuko Aoyama (Jpn) & Aleksandra Krunic (Ser)
Court 11, 11am
Quentin Halys (Fra) v Christopher Eubanks (USA)
Jacob Fearnley (Gbr) & Jack Pinnington Jones (Gbr) v Rafael Matos (Bra) & Marcelo Melo (Bra)
Guido Andreozzi (Arg) & Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (Mex) v Lloyd Glasspool (Gbr) & Jean-Julien Rojer (Ned)
(4) Katerina Siniakova (Cze) & Taylor Townsend (USA) v Rebeka Masarova (Spa) & Linda Noskova (Cze)
Court 12, 11am
Botic Van de Zandschulp (Ned) v (16) Ugo Humbert (Fra)
Arantxa Rus (Ned) v (9) Maria Sakkari (Gre)
Lloyd Harris (Rsa) v (14) Ben Shelton (USA)
(18) Marta Kostyuk (Ukr) v Daria Saville (Aus)
Court 14, 11am
Magdalena Frech (Pol) v (20) Beatriz Haddad Maia (Bra)
Arthur Cazaux (Fra) v (23) Alexander Bublik (Kaz)
(28) Dayana Yastremska (Ukr) v Varvara Gracheva (Fra)
Tereza Mihalikova (Svk) & Olivia Nicholls (Gbr) v (6) Demi Schuurs (Ned) & Luisa Stefani (Bra)
Court 15, 11am
(31) Barbora Krejcikova (Cze) v Veronika Kudermetova (Rus)
(32) Zhizhen Zhang (Chn) v Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger)
Denis Shapovalov (Can) v Daniel Altmaier (Ger)
Alexander Erler (Aut) & Lucas Miedler (Aut) v (9) Kenneth Skupski (Gbr) & Michael Venus (Nzl)
Court 16, 11am
Aslan Karatsev (Rus) v (21) Karen Khachanov (Rus)
Sloane Stephens (USA) v Diana Shnaider (Rus)
Lulu Sun (Nzl) v Yuliia Starodubtseva (Ukr)
Naiktha Bains (Gbr) & Viktorija Rajicic (Aus) v Timea Babos (Hun) & Nadiia Kichenok (Ukr)
(16) Sadio Doumbia (Fra) & Fabien Reboul (Fra) v Oliver Crawford (Gbr) & Kyle Edmund (Gbr)
Court 17, 11am
Magda Linette (Pol) v (21) Elina Svitolina (Ukr)
Miomir Kecmanovic (Ser) v (27) Tallon Griekspoor (Ned)
Paula Badosa Gibert (Spa) v Brenda Fruhvirtova (Cze)
Donna Vekic (Cro) v (3) Erika Andreeva (Rus)
N.Sriram Balaji (Ind) & Luke Johnson (Gbr) v (4) Marcelo Arevalo (Esa) & Mate Pavic (Cro)
Court 18, 11am
Borna Coric (Cro) v (29) Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Bianca Andreescu (Can) v (26) Linda Noskova (Cze)
Lin Zhu (Chn) v (25) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus)
Harriet Dart (Gbr) & Maia Lumsden (Gbr) v (5) Sara Errani (Ita) & Matilde Paoletti (Ita)
Preamble
Hello! It’s Wimbledon. It’s day three. Fancy joining us to follow the action? Of course you do!
After Novak Djokovic showed yesterday that he means business even with just one good leg, today Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz get the chance to flex their younger muscles and put the 37-year-old back in his place by reminding him that he’s not the title favourite around these parts any more.
Sinner would really send a statement with a strong performance in his all-Italian job with the 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini – a match that wouldn’t be taking place as early as the second round were it not for Berrettini’s injury-affected ranking – while Alcaraz has what should be a more straightforward assignment against the Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
Sinner is joined on Centre Court by Daniil Medvedev and Naomi Osaka – it’s so good to have her back at Wimbledon after five years away – while Alcaraz has Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff for company on No 1 Court.
Raducanu, who plays the Belgian Elise Mertens, is one of four Brits in singles action today: Sonay Kartal has an early start on No 3 Court against France’s Clara Burel; Dan Evans is second on Court 12 and hopefully in a better mood than last night as he resumes a set down in his first-round match against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo; and Lily Miyazaki is last on No 3 against the Eastbourne champion Daria Kasatkina.
Throw in Casper Ruud v Fabio Fognini and Gael Monfils v Stan Wawrinka (no, it’s not in the seniors), along with Grigor Dimitrov, the Queen’s champion Tommy Paul and the French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini, plus the not-so-small matter of 16 first-round matches to either be started or completed, and we’ve got a breathless Wednesday in store. Sit tight.
Play is due to begin at: 11am BST on the outside courts, 1pm BST on No 1 Court and 1.30pm on Centre Court.
The weather: may or may not co-operate. It’s been a bit drizzly this morning but play is expected to start on time, though there could be an interruption around lunchtime.