On Court No 2 a flurry of breaks as the women’s fourth seed Padosa grabbed an early break against Romania’s Irina Bara, Bara broke back swiftly but then lost her subsequent service game and Badosa now leads 5-2. Kvitova meanwhile has won the first set against Bogdan 6-1, though she had to work hard for it in her last service game, saving a couple of break points.
An early break for Petra Kvitova, the two-times Wimbledon champion, against Ana Bogdan. She’s raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set. Having won at Eastbourne last weekend and thrived here in the past, the Czech, seeded 25, looks one to watch once again.
An early setback for Britain’s Alastair Gray though. The No 11 seed Taylor Fritz has broken him and leads 2-0.
Pre-action reading, and we got plenty.
Here’s Barney Ronay on Emma Raducanu making friends in defeat:
For all the attention on Murray and Raducanu, Simon Cambers reports on Britain’s best start to Wimbledon since 1984:
And here’s Paul MacInnes’s Wimbledon diary, including a forgetful Ugo Humbert and the export of the Henman Hill experience to Brooklyn:
Here’s the order of play on courts 2 and 3. The full list is here.
Court No 2
Paula Badosa (4) v Irina Bara
Filip Krajinovic (26) v Nick Kyrgios
Harriet Dart v Jessica Pegula (8)
(Not before 5pm BST) Kirsten Flipkens v Simona Halep (16)
Court No 3
Ana Bogdan v Petra Kvitova (25)
Liam Broady v Diego Schwartzman (12)
Daniel Galan v Roberto Bautista Agut (17)
Preamble
Morning everyone, and welcome to day four at the All England Club. With a couple of the sport’s greatest late-night drama kings and queens now eliminated, what awaits us today? Plenty, obviously, with British interest on Centre Court first up as Katie Boulter takes on the sixth seed, Karolina Pliskova. Boulter has never gone beyond the second round while the Czech was of course last year’s runner-up, so a formidable challenge confronts the British world No 118. After that Rafa Nadal faces the unseeded Lithuanian Ričardas Berankis and Coca Gauff, the No 11 seed in the women’s draw, is up against Mihaela Buzărnescu of Romania.
On No 1 court Stefanos Tsitsipas, the men’s No 4 seed, faces Australia’s Jordan Thompson before the relentless Iga Swiatek looks to continue her stunning winning streak when she plays the unseeded Dutchwoman Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove. Britain’s rising star Jack Draper then rounds off proceedings when he plays the No 19 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia.
There’s plenty of action on the outside courts before the show courts get going at 1.30pm though, with Paula Badosa, Petra Kvitova and Britain’s Alastair Gray among those in action. We’ll keep you updated on those and more.
Let’s play.
