Game, set and match, Nadal
Men’s singles: Two sets to one up and 5-3 up in the fourth set, Rafael Nadal serves for the match. He loses the first point, giving Berankis too much room to pass up the left tramline, before firing down successive aces. His opponent can only backhand the next delivery weakly into the net. With two match-points to his name, Nadal closes out with another ace: 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Women’s singles: On the biggest stage of all, Centre Court, Katie Boulter’s reputation accorded with reality in spectacular fashion as she produced the biggest win of her career to upset Karolina Pliskova, the sixth seed and last year’s finalist. Tumaini Carayol reports from Centre Court.
Men’s singles: Play has resumed on Centre Court, where Rafael Nadal leads Ricardas Berankis by two sets to one and by 4-2 in the fourth set.
Jack Draper takes the first set
Men’s singles: Jack Draper wins a scintillating 26-shot (or possibly more) rally in which ball clipped chalk on numerous occasions, to win arguably the point of the Championships so far and take the first set of his match against Alex De Minaur 7-5.
Men’s singles: Rafael Nadal and Ricardas Berankis are back out on Centre Court warming up. More exciting end-of-rain-delay news as we get it.
Men’s singles: The rain may have stopped falling but the Centre Court encounter between Rafael Nadal and Ricardo Berankis remains suspended as officials let the court breathe, or whatever it needs to do after it’s been covered for upwards of 30 minutes.
Meanwhile on No 1 Court, Jack Draper has just saved a break point and survived a mid-point slip to hold his serve and make it 5-5 in the first set of his match against Alex De Minaur.
No 1 Court: The roof is closed and Britain’s Jack Draper is bashing up with Alex De Minaur ahead of the resumption of their match. It’s 4-3 to the Australian in the first set.
The covers are coming off. Play between Rafael Nadal and Ricardas Berankis should resume soon enough on Centre Court, with Coco Gauff and Mihaela Buzarnescu due on afterwards in the women’s singles.
Play suspended …
The covers are pulled on to Centre Court as the rain begins to the shower down from a black cloud hovering overhead. Rafael Nadal is two sets to nil up, and leads 3-0 in the fourth set and it’s advantage Berankis in the fourth game. For reasons best known to themselves, officials have taken the decision not to close the roof but wait for the rain clouds to pass.
Men’s singles: Rafael Nadal has raced into a 3-0 lead in the fourth set of his match against Ricardas Berankis, who has a mountain to climb if he is to cause a seismic upset.
Women’s singles: Simona Halep, a Wimbledon winner in 2019, is through to the third round after taking 83 minutes to beat Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-4 on No 2 Court.
Men’s singles: Great Britain’s Jack Draper has got off to the best possible start against Aussie 19th seed Alex De Minaur on No 1 Court, breaking the world No27 in the opening game of the contest.
Men’s singles: He made the semi-finals last year but there’ll be no repeat performance from Canada’s Denis Shapovalov this time around – the 13th seed has just been eliminated by the USA’s Brandon Nakashima in four sets on Court 12.
Berankis wins the set …
Men’s singles: Ricardas Berankis pulls a set back against Rafael Nadal, Hawk-Eye coming to his aid to help him wrap it up at 6-4.
Ricardas Berankis may be two sets down but he is giving Rafael Nadal plenty to think about in the third set of their match. During a game in which he took time out just before a ball-toss to ask a spectator to stop shouting, Nadal holds serve but his opponent is about to serve for the set.
Rafael Nadal is two sets up but 3-2 and a break down in the third against the Lithuanian world No106, Ricardas Berankis, who has just missed an opportunity to break the Spaniard for the second time in the third set.
Game, set and match Swiatek
Women’s singles: It was a plucky performance from “lucky loser” and world No138 Lesley Pattimnama Kerkhove but despite taking a set off Iga Swiatek, she is unable to prevent the Polish No1 seed from winning her 37th consecutive match. After this 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win she’ll meet Alizé Cornet in the next round.
Women’s singles: Simona Halep wins the first set of her match against Kristen Flipkins 7-5.
Rafael Nadal is two sets up. He looks to be cantering to a fairly straightforward win, having taken the first two sets of his match against Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-4.
Women’s singles: Aiming to win her seventh tournament in a row and 37th consecutive match in a run stretching back to February, Polish No1 seed Iga Swiatek has pulled clear of her Dutch opponent Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove in the third set. She leads 4-2 and is about to serve.
Today at Wimbledon so far …
- Nick Kyrgios will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round after beating Filip Krajinovic in straight sets. Tsitsipas swatted Australia’s Jordan Thompson aside.
- Katie Boulter came from a set down on Centre Court to knock out sixth seed Karolina Pliskova and earn a third round match against Harmony Tan, first round conquerer Serena Williams.
- Heather Watson is through to the third round after taking just one game to wrap up her delayed match against China’s Wang Qiang.
- Liam Broady joins the ranks of Brits in the third round after knocking out 12th seed Diego Schartzmann in a fifth set decider.
- Britain’s Alastair Gray is out, however, having lost 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to Taylor Fritz, the 11th seed.
- Londoner Harriet Dart is also out, having lost in three sets to the American eighth seed Jess Pegula.
- The men’s draw has lost a third player to Covid, with Spanish 17th seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain forced to withdraw after testing positive.
Women’s singles: The 2019 Wimbledon champion and 16th seed Simona Halep is out on court playing Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens, who is ranked 190th in the world. It’s 3-2 to Flipkens on No 2 Court and going with serve.
Iga Swiatek loses the second set. Despite losing in the last round of qualifying, Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, who has never been inside the world’s top 100, scraped into the main draw as a lucky loser and has now restored parity against the No1 seed at one set all in the second round. They’re into a decider and Swiatek’s forehand has deserted her. She’s adjourned to the locker-room to regroup.
Rafael Nadal is a set up. The Spaniard won the first set of his match against Ricardas Berankis 6-4 but is 3-2 and a break down in the second.
“Every serve Nadal does exactly the same thing, it’s clearly obsessive and I wish he would talk about it more,” writes Gregory. “Because if Rafa Nadal can become one of the best tennis players ever while managing OCD, I don’t have to feel bad about compulsively checking light switches I know I flipped because it’s now dark. On the other hand, if he can do all that, I now have one less excuse for not being really good at anything.”
Liam Broady speaks …
“It was easy, wasn’t it?” he tells BBC with a laugh. “I had everyone fooled at two sets to one and a break down in the fourth but no … it’s an amazing feeling. I thought I’d be coming off court having lost in the second round for the third time but I mean you guys were amazing out here today. Thank you, it was incredible.”
On his turnaround: “I changed the tactics out there a little bit,” he says. “I started trying to play really heavily into his forehand a little bit more because he was dominating with his backhand. He’s done that against Rafa on the play so he can do it against Liam Broady.”
Liam Broady through to third round …
Men’s singles: He’s knocked out the 12th seed from Argentina on No 3 Court to advance to the third round for the first time in his career. He had lost 11 games in a row and looked down and out, only to dig deep and pull several rabbits out of the hat. He wins 6-2, 4-6, 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 in three hours and 46 minutes.
Liam Broady breaks. But in a good way. He’s 4-1 up in the final set of his game against the 12th seed Diego Schwarzmann, who has never been beyond the third round of Wimbledon despite his high seeding.
Women’s singles: Iga Swiatek has won the first set of her match against world 138 Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4 and it’s two games all in ther second.
Liam Broady’s match against Diego Schwartzmann has gone to a decider. Broady won the fourth set in a tie-break and is now in the final set, where it’s 1-1.
Nadal’s serve: After deciding which of the many balls on offer he’s going to serve, it takes Rafael Nadal a total of 10.96 seconds to go through his pre-serve routine before striking it.
He bounces it with his racket while standing behind the baseline, using his free hand to tug the material of his shirt off his left shoulder and then his right shoulder, before rubbing his nose and then carefully placing non-existent strands of hair behind his left and then right ear. Then it’s ball into hand, four more bounces and … boom! In your own time, mate.
Women’s singles: Top seed and French Open champion Iga Swiatek is out on No 1 Court, where she has just recovered from a break down in the first set of her match against the Dutch player Lesley Pattinama Kerkhone. It’s 4-4.
Harriet Dart is out …
Women’s singles: The 25-year-old right-hander from Hampstead has lost to the American No8 seed Jess Pegula in three sets: 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Katie Boulter to face Harmony Tan in the third round. Having seen off Karolina Pliskova earlier this afternoon, Boulter will face Tan on Saturday afternoon in a match that may well be played on Centre Court. That’s a huge opportunity for both players but having seen both of them play this week, my 50p would be on the woman from Leicester.
Harmony Tan through to the third round. The Frenchwoman who did so well to knock out Serena Williams in the first round has won her second match of the tournament. Out on Court 17, she’s beaten Spain’s No32 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo, who is ranked 70 places above her.
Rafael Nadal is next up on Centre Court
Men’s singles: The Spaniard gets a warm Centre Court welcome as he emerges from the locker-room alongside his Lithuanian opponent Ricardas Berankis, who is 32 years old, ranked 106th in the world and hasd never made it past the second round of Wimbledon in eight attempts.
Luke Broady latest: The British No5 is two sets to one down in his match against Argentina’s Diego Schwartzmann, who is seeded 12th in the championships.
Another Covid withdrawal: No17 seed Roberto Bautista Agut has become the third player to withdraw from the men’s singles with Covid, the Spaniard joining Matteo Berrettini and Marin Cilic in being forced out from the bottom half of the draw.
An emotional Katie Boulter speaks …
“I’ve got no words right now, I’m literally shaking,” she says in her post-match interview. “The crowd was unbelievable so thank you so much for getting me through that.”
She goes on to say that her grandmother passed away two days ago and “I’d just like to dedicate that to her today”. She adds that getting to the third round of a slam event for the first time is a dream come true for me. “Hopefully I will have many more matches to play and if I can have you guys behind me then hopefully I can go a long way. Thank you so much, thank you.”
Game, set and match, Boulter!
Women’s singles: A drop shot leaves Karolinas Pliskova stranded near the baseline and Britain’s Katie Bolter pulls off the result of her career. She’s put awful injury problems behind her to advance to the third round of a grand slam event for the first time.
Boulter breaks Pliskova!
Women’s singles: Boulter earns two break points against Pliskova but loses the first to an ace, Pliskova’s 13th of the match. A long forehand down the line does for the Czech, who can only send her return into the base of the net on the stretch. Ranked 118 in the world, Katie Boulter is serving for the match against the No6 seed and last year’s runner-up.
Pliskova leads Boulter 4-3 in the deciding set. They’re haring through games that are going with serve on Centre Court as they approach the business end of the match.
Meanwhile on No 1 Court: Stefanos Tsitsipas has set up a mouthwatering third round encounter against Nick Kyrgios on the back of his 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 win over the Australian, Jordan Thompson.
Harriet Dart is in action on No 2 Court. The 25-year-old Londoner won the first set of her match against the American No8 seed Jessica Pegula 6-4 but is 3-0 down in the second.
Liam Broady is in a spot of bother. Having taken a one-set lead against Diego Schwartzmann on No 3 Court, he lost the second and is now 5-0 down in the third and serving to save it.
Boulter restores parity at one set all
With three set points to her name in the tie-break and Pliskova serving, she sends a forehand return into the net to lose the first, before converting the second to tumultuous applause from the crowd. It’s one set each between Boulter and Pliskova with one more to go.
Katie Boulter is in a second set tie-break. Courtesy of two double faults from Pliskova and a magnificent ground-stroke to return a drop shot she races into a 3-0 lead. She wins the next point to go 4-0 up before whipping a forehand return long on her own serve to open the door for Pliskova.
Meanwhile on No 1 Court. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No4 seed, is two sets up on his Australian adversary Jordan Thomspon and leads 3-2 in a third set that’s going with serve.
Katie Boulter goes 6-5 up in the second set. She goes 40-0 up on her service game, hits a double fault, then returns into the net before forcing an error from Karolina Pliskova. Mid-game, her grandfather in the crowd roared “Go on, Katie!” by way of a wobble-avoiding pep talk. A set down, she’s guaranteed herself a tie-break at least.
Liam Broady loses the second set 6-4. It’s all square at one set each between him and his Argentinian opponent, the clay court specialist Diego Schwartzmann.
Pliskova breaks back. There’s a fourth successive break of serve in the second set of the match between Karolina Pliskova and Katie Boulter. The 25-year-old from Leicestershire survives two break points but nets a return during the third. It’s 4-3 to Boulter in the second, with Pliskova a set up and serving.
Unlucky for Katie Boulter, who goes 0-30 up against Karolina Pliskova, only to be foiled by the net cord as she attempts to earn three break points. Not to worry! She wins the next point and a double-fault from Pliskova puts her 3-1 up in the second set with that all important break.
Boulter holds serve. Having come from a set down to beat Pliskova at Eastbourne last week, Boulter will need history to repeat itself if she is to go through to the third round. She starts the first game of the second set in fine style, holding her serve to 15.
Katie Boulter holds her serve on Centre Court in her second round match against Karolina Pliskova. It’s not enough to prevent her losing the first set, however, as her Czech opponent sends down three booming serves – two of them aces – in quick succession to give herself three set points before closing out. Last year’s beaten finalist is in the box-seat.
Kyrgios cruises through in straight sets
Nick Kyrgios goes through. On his best behaviour on No 2 Court following those unsavoury antics during his first round win over Paul Jubb, the Australian has a much easier task in seeing off Queen’s finalist Filip Krajinovic in straight sets, 6-2,6-3, 6-1.
Heather Watson advances to the third round. Resuming a match that was suspended due to poor light last night, Watson needs just one service game and three match points to see off Chinese player Wang Qiang of China. She will face the Slovenian Kaja Juvan in the next round.
Greetings all. I join you as Britain’s Liam Broady hammers down his first ace of the day to hold his serve and make it one game apiece in the second set of his match against the diminutive Argentinian Diego Schwartzman. The 28-year-old from Stockport is a set up.
Peter McDonald writes on the empty-seats issue: “It’s not a new problem. I was there when Henman came out to finish his semi against Ivanisevc, the first British player for years to reach that point. The corporate seats were 80-90% unfilled. By the time the Ladies’ final started, the court was still less than half full. One suspects that for the corporate world, whatever sport is happening takes a poor second place to wining, dining and networking.”
Those who are on Centre Court see Pliskova force a break point from Deuce on Boulter’s serve, and it’s converted when Boulter overhits her forehand beyond the baseline. We’re back on serve at 2-2.
And with that, I’ll hand you over to Barry Glendenning who’ll guide you through the rest of the day. Thanks for your comment and company. Bye.
There’s some fearsome baseline hitting in Boulter’s first service game, but she keeps a steely focus to hold to 30, sealing it with a driving forehand winner to the back of the court. 2-0.
Over on Court No 1 Tsitsipas has stormed through the first set 6-2 against Jordan Thompson and another Brit, Liam Broady, has taken the first set against Diego Schwartzmann 6-2 on Court No 3. Upset on the cards?
Boulter breaks Pliskova in first game. Boulter wins a break point in the first game but overhits her return. She gets another chance though after her opponent errs and this time she converts, forcing Plisova backand into a sliced backhand out of court. What a start for the British player.
