Johanna Konta is through to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time, with Andy Murray later making it four from four for the home nation on Wednesday.
Konta, the British No.1, survived a titanic battle with Donna Vekic on Centre Court, turning the tables on the young Croatian who beat her in the Nottingham final to prevail in three hours and 10 minutes, 7-6,(4), 4-6, 10-8.
Konta was the third Briton to book a place in the third round on Wednesday, joining Heather Watson and Aljaz Bedene, before defending champion Murray made it four from four for the Brits with a quick 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 dismissal of Germany’s Dustin Brown. The 97th-ranked Brown has a history of springing second-round surprises, having knocked out former champions Lleyton Hewitt in 2013 and Rafael Nadal in 2015, but was no match for the No.1 seed on Centre Court.
Watson was the first player to book her spot in the third round, racing to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over No.18 seed Anastasija Sevastova on No.2 Court. With that, the 25-year-old has matched her best performance at a Grand Slam – it is her third appearance in the third round at The Championships, having reached the same stage at the Australian Open in 2013.
Watson will face former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka for a place in the last 16 after the two-time Grand Slam champion produced a vintage display to oust last year’s semi-finalist and No.15 seed Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-3, in just her fourth tour-level match since giving birth to baby Leo in December.
Bedene backed up his marathon five-set win over Ivo Karlovic in the first round with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur and will face Luxembourg’s No.16 seed Gilles Muller for a place in the last 16.
Muller, who won the title in ’s-Hertogenbosch, saved two match points and hit 45 aces to fend off Lukas Rosol 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-3, 9-7.
In his first Wimbledon campaign in two years, Rafael Nadal extended his winning run against fellow lefties to 14 after defeating American Donald Young 6-4, 6-2, 7-5. The Spaniard will face rising star Karen Khachanov, after the 21-year-old Muscovite held off Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in four sets.
There would be no such luck for another two-time Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova. Playing just her third tournament back since recovering from a hand injury suffered in a a knife attack last December, the Czech fell 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to American Madison Brengle.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga cruised to a 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Simone Bolelli, but Kei Nishikori found the going a bit tougher against qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky, needing three hours and 15 minutes to dispatch the Ukrainian 6-4, 6-7(7) 6-1, 7-6(6).
No.8 seed Dominika Cibulkova ground out a 6-4, 6-4 win over American Jennifer Brady, but Barbora Strycova, the No.22 seed, came off second-best in a see-saw showdown with Japanese youngster Naomi Osaka, who advanced with a 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 win.
Sam Querrey produced the shock of the first week in 2016 when he beat then-world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the third round. The American is back in the last 32 after beating Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and will face No.12 seed Tsonga for a place in the fourth round.
It may be day three of The Championships, but Paolo Lorenzi won’t have minded waiting a little longer than most to book his place in the second round. The Italian’s 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-5 victory over Horacio Zeballos was his first Wimbledon match win in 12 attempts – in both singles and doubles – dating back to his 2010 debut. The No.32 seed will face American Jared Donaldson in the second round.
Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic was in ominous form with a 7-6(2), 6-4, 7-5 win over the flat-hitting Florian Mayer while 2013 semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz had an impressive 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1 upset of last year’s quarter-finalist, No.14 seed Lucas Pouille. At world No.141, Janowicz used a protected ranking to enter. He faces Benoit Paire next.
Under fading light, No.17 seed Madison Keys saved four match points to steal the second-set tie-break before Italian Camila Giorgi ran away with the match 6-4, 6-7(10), 6-1. It sets a third-round clash with French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 winner over Canadian qualifier Francois Abanda.
Both the men's and women's doubles tournament got under way on Wednesday. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova began their bid to complete a non-calendar Grand Slam by seeing off American pair Alison Riske and Jennifer Brady 7-5, 6-2.
Britain's Marcus Willis - who came through pre-qualifying to reach the second round of the singles last year - and his partner Jay Clarke pulled off perhaps the result of the day, coming from two sets down to beat Jared Donaldson and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 6-7(4), 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0, 6-3.
