Tennis
Wimbledon LIVE: Tennis scores and updates as Raducanu and Alcaraz return today
Emma Raducanu is back at Wimbledon today and faces Elise Mertens for a place in the third round at SW19.
Carlos Alcaraz, who raced into the second round to begin his title defence on Monday, now skips over to No.1 Court to play Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
On Tuesday night, British No 1 Jack Draper embraced the spotlight vacated by Andy Murray after he withdrew from the men’s singles due to injury, earning a gritty five-set win over qualifier Elias Ymer under the roof on Centre Court. While Murray, who was scheduled to face Tomas Machac in the first round, will now focus on the men’s doubles with his brother Jamie in what is his Wimbledon swansong.
World No.1 Jannik Sinner is back today, too, in an all-Italian affair with former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, while Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka are also scheduled to take to court.
Follow all the latest updates and live scores from Wimbledon below:
Novak Djokovic answers Wimbledon injury question but bigger issues remain
All eyes are usually on Novak Djokovic when he steps on to Centre Court at Wimbledon but this time, they were trained on one specific body part – his right knee.
His attention would surely turn instead to the Olympic Games and finally achieving the one major accomplishment that has eluded him throughout his storied career – winning Olympic gold for his country. By focussing on Paris 2024, he would avoid not only a potentially damaging race to be fit but also a risky surface-switch merry-go-round from Roland Garros clay to Wimbledon grass back to Roland Garros clay that would test any 37-year-old body, let alone one with a newly surgically-repaired right knee.
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 09:01
Cameron Norrie returns to winning ways with straight-sets success at Wimbledon
Cameron Norrie set aside recent grass-court struggles to ease into the second round of Wimbledon with a straight-sets success over tournament debutant Facundo Diaz Acosta.
The unseeded 28-year-old entered Court Three seeking to rediscover the form which brought a run to the semi-finals at the All England Club in 2022.
He answered his critics following first-round exits at Queen’s and Eastbourne – on the back of suffering a similar fate at the French Open – with a 7-5 7-5 6-3 win which sets up a round-two showdown with British number one Jack Draper.
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 08:52
Marketa Vondrousova joins Steffi Graf in unwanted piece of Wimbledon history
Vondrousova was a surprise winner at the All England Club last year and returned to Centre Court on Tuesday to begin the defence of her crown, but struggled physically as she tasted 6-4 6-2 defeat inside 67 minutes.
It made Vondrousova only the second defending women’s Wimbledon champion to crash out in the first round after Graf did in 1994 to Lori McNeil.
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 08:44
Wimbledon 2024: Novak Djokovic heaps praise on Andy Murray and teases return in 2025
“Obviously, very sad news for the tournament and for the tennis world to hear that he withdrew from the singles event here in Wimbledon,” said the Serbian.
“Hopefully he can get another shot at next year’s Wimbledon with singles. Knowing him, he’s going to try to do that.
“Just incredible resilience throughout all his career. Multiple grand slam winner. Legend of the game. Number one in the world. Going to play the Challenger circuit to build his rankings on clay, his least favourite surface, says a lot about his character.
“Just a huge inspiration to all the players. Doesn’t mind getting out on the court for hours every day. Incredible professional. Just his approach is something to study, no doubt.
“His will to push and see how far he can go, even with an artificial hip, is something that is just inspiring but also serves as a great example, I think, to a lot of the athletes, younger ones, that start to complain about this and that.”
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 08:37
Jacob Fearnley ‘super excited’ for Wimbledon clash with Novak Djokovic
British wild card Jacob Fearnley will embrace the special experience of playing Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon after his straight-sets victory over Alejandro Moro Canas set up a second-round tie with the 24-time grand slam champion.
Fearnley only finished his five-year stint at Texas Christian University (TCU) in May and was ranked outside the top 500 until he won an ATP Challenger event in Nottingham as a qualifier last month.
It helped earn the 22-year-old from Scotland a wild card for this year’s Championships and despite being distracted by Djokovic’s score on a screen outside Centre Court, he marked his debut at the All England Club with a 7-5 6-4 7-6 (12) victory on a buoyant Court Eight.
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 08:30
Andy Murray withdraws from Wimbledon singles following back operation
Andy Murray has pulled out of the singles at Wimbledon ahead of his first-round match against Tomas Machac, but the 37-year-old will make a farewell appearance at the Championships alongside his older brother Jamie in the doubles.
“Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year,” a statement from Murray’s team read.
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 08:21
Jack Draper steps into the Wimbledon void as Andy Murray departs centre stage
Under the roof on Centre Court, the symbolism felt a little too obvious. As Andy Murray departed the stage, forced to withdraw on the morning of his final Wimbledon singles match, up stepped Jack Draper, the new British No 1. And while a scrappy, often unconvincing five-set win over the qualifier Elias Ymer hardly felt like the triumphant start of a new era for British tennis at Wimbledon, it was reminiscent of something else. The Centre Court crowd had come for Murray – Draper said so himself – but still saw a display of heart and grit from the 22-year-old. As Murray proved countless times during his golden years, success at Wimbledon is built on such qualities.
It may have been a fitting tribute to his idol, but as Draper thumped a final serve out wide on match point and smacked a ball high into the rafters on Centre Court, this was a victory that was met with more relief and frustration than outright celebration. Clearly, a fifth-set decider was not the plan for the 29th seed Draper, expected to dispatch an opponent ranked outside the world’s top 200 who had only played two tour-level matches this year. He will be aiming higher after returning to the second round, against the former British No 1 and Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie.
But it is not easy to follow the departure of Britain’s two-time champion and literally step into the void left by a legend of the sport. “I wouldn’t be here without Andy,” Draper said on Centre Court. “Such a guy off the court, so genuine, so kind, what a champion and what a competitor.” Yet here he was, stepping into those shoes. In what was a significant moment in his young career, faced with increased expectations and an opponent with nothing to lose, Draper emerged with a battling win to build on into the fortnight.
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 08:11
Wimbledon order of play and Wednesday’s schedule
CENTRE COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:30 START
Alexandre Muller (FRA) vs Daniil Medvedev [5] 1
Naomi Osaka (JPN) vs Emma Navarro (USA) [19] 2
Jannik Sinner (ITA) [1] vs Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 3
No.1 COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START
Anca Todoni (ROU) vs Coco Gauff (USA) [2] 1
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) [3] vs Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 2
Emma Raducanu (GBR) vs Elise Mertens (BEL) 3
Jack Rathborn3 July 2024 08:07