Wimbledon 2023 LIVE: Andy Murray takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in round two, with Brit Liam Broady up first on Centre Court and Katie Boulter back in action

Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for Day Four at Wimbledon, as Andy Murray returns to Centre Court against Stefanos Tsitsipas, with Katie Boulter in action again. 

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We’re still on serve in the second set, with Choinski looking composed and confident, unruffled by his defeat in the first. But Hurkacz is waiting to pounce, and has a way into a strong service game when Choinski bats the ball out at 40-love. 

The players reach deuce, and Choinski goes ahead with a whippy ace. On his second serve, Hurkacz funks on his backhand, and Choinski can pull off a slightly nervy hold. 

She’s given Svitolina a taste of her own set with a 6-1 win in the second set to set a nail-biting third. 

Svitolina’s compatriot Anhelina Kalinina is having more joy against her opponent Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who she leads 6-4 after the first set, as fellow Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko  against Katerina Siniakova – she’s just taken the first set in a similar fashion. 

As has Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who took his opener against Arthur Fils to a tiebreaker, which the Spaniard won 7-6 (7-3). 

Whilst No 16 seed Karolina Muchova is in danger of losing hers to Germany’s Jule Niemeier, ranked 103rd in the world. Their’s is one of the eye-popping 14 first-round matches still in progress or yet to be played. 

After only claiming a solitary game against Elina Svitolina in the opening set, she sprints 4-0 up in the second. 

The No 28 seed has a decision go against her as Svitolina challenges the umpire’s call to overturn an out decision in the fifth game, with Mertens on serve. 

But she is unflappable for the remainder of the game, winning it was a rocket-like ace that Svitolina has no hope of getting on the end of, 5-0. 

In style too! The Pole completes a straightforward hold to love, working efficiently to dispatch his practice partner. 

Choinski, like Etcheverry, completes a nerveless opening hold at the start of the second set, but the Brit must work to keep his game a little more focused – he’s made nine enforced errors so far, to Hurkacz’s five. 

Etcheverry has taken the long way round to reach the second round, after losing his opening two sets in his first-round tie against Bernabe Zapata Miralles. He may have to do the same here, after falling behind to the Swiss player. 

Determined to move on, Etcheverry dogged holds his opening service game, finishing with a classy ace in double-quick time. 

Choinski shares Hurkacz’s Polish heritage, and the players know each other very well, even practising together – perhaps their mutual insider knowledge has kept the tie level so far. 

But Hurkacz has looked close to pulling ahead at times, and now he makes good on his threat. Taking advantage of some errors in Choinski’s game, including a costly double-fault, he takes the opening break, setting himself up to serve for the opening set. 

The Ukrainian beat Venus Williams to reach the second round, and is making light work of No 28 seed Elise Mertens on Court 2, already 6-1 ahead after the opening set. 

Sofia Kenin, who knocked out her compatriot and one of the favourites Coco Gauff, is 4-3 against Xinyu Wang, and Quentin Hayls, who dispatched Dan Evans on Centre Court on Tuesday evening, won the first set 6-3 against Aleksandar Vukic. 

Seeds Alexander Bublik and Lorenzo Musetti are ahead of J.J Wolf and Jaume Munar respectively. 

The pair are still on serve as Choinski steps up to the fore, with a long way ahead of them – and Hurkacz has far greater five-set experience than the Briton. 

Choinski bats a backhand into the net from the back of the court, in his seventh unforced error of the contest, to go 15-30 behind. But he saves face with some excellent net play, that Hurkacz slides to reach but can’t waft over the netcord. 

An unreturnable serve sends Choinski 40-30 ahead of the Pole, who finds the net with his next return too. 

An important hold for Choinski. 

The three-time grand slam winner broke Etcheverry’s second serve to put him 4-1 ahead, leaving the Argentine wrestling to get the match back on serve and to stem the bloodflow. 

Starting his fightback, Etcheverry holds his nerve in an inch-perfect service game, winning to love with a final ace, 4-2. 

Hurkacz looked to break the British wildcard, but couldn’t make good on any of his three break points as the Brit stood firm. 

Still on serve, the Pole is gifted 30-15 after Choinski clouts a double-handed backhand into the sidelines. A sneaked shot at the net bobs just over the cord, to get him in shooting distance of his hold. 

A long ball flying past the baseline gives Choinski a boost to 40-30, but Hurkacz’s serve remains strong, and the Brit is unable to return his final effort. 

The Dutchman made it to the fourth round during his impressive run in the championships last year, before falling to Rafael Nadal, but he’s had a horror start to his second-round tie against Zhizhen Zhang, losing his opening service game. 

The world No 52 hasn’t given an inch to his opponent, and is now 3-0 up in the opening set. 

The Swiss player has a fast start against the Argentine 29th seed, staying on serve in a bid to crack the early break. 

Wawrinka forces Etcheverry into a wobbling forehand that jinks out of play, going 30-15 ahead. But Etcheverry stops him in his tracks there, and plays out a cool and composed game to secure his opening hold. 

This should be an interesting tie – and one player watching avidly will be Novak Djokovic. The current title-holder will face the winner in his third-round tie. 

Choinski wins the toss and chooses to serve first, but opens with an inadequate forehand response to Hurkacz’s return. He gets off the mark after overpowering the Polish player with a strong serve, and aces to make it 40-15. 

Another ace, and he seals a comfortable opening hold. Not a bad statement of intent against the seeded player. 

Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas were worst of enemies in a spat over toilet breaks ‘longer than Jeff Bezos flying to space’, with Scot labelling it as ‘CHEATING’ – but now they claim to be ‘friends’ ahead of Wimbledon reunion

t’s safe to say the last time Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas faced off at a grand slam, a storm swept through New York. 

Murray accused his rival of ‘cheating’ and walked away having lost, not just the match, but also ‘respect’ for Tstisipas. 

The issue? Bathroom breaks. Or as Murray put it, a break that took so long Jeff Bezos could have made it to the moon quicker…

READ MORE BELOW. 

For those of you who want to follow two Mail Sport blogs this morning… things are already off to the races at Headingley. 

Those aren’t the bluest skies I’ve ever seen, but as long as it stays dry, we can’t quibble. 

The players are starting to arrive on their outdoor courts, ready for a busy day’s play. 

Play will start at 1.00pm on Court No 1, and 1.30pm on Centre Court. 

The British wildcard beath Dusan Lajovic in the first round 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-2 in a mini-upset: the Serbian sits 108 ranking places ahead of Choinski. 

Now, he looks to build upon his first Major win in some style, going up against the No 17 seed Hubert Hurkacz. Part of his gameplan involves using his unique heritage – the 27-year-old is the son of two dancers, his mother a professional ballerina. 

‘I danced myself until I was like 12, in the ballet school of my parents,’ Choinski told BBC Sport after his first-round win.

‘It gave me good knowledge over my body, my coordination. Especially here on the grass, movement is completely different.

‘Having your own balance and being to able to adjust yourself, go low, things like that.’

A £27 ticket, two rain breaks… and one roving reporter! LEWIS STEELE takes in the action on all 18 courts in one day at Wimbledon

With 87 matches on the order of play, a relatively dry weather forecast and household names on the outer courts, the £27 ground pass was a contender for this year’s best value ticket in sport.

Bearing that in mind, and after a Tuesday with just eight matches completed, this reporter came up with the daft idea to try to take in some action on each of the All England Club’s 18 courts in one day.

It promised to be a tough task to do but Mailsport’s Lewis Steele is up for the challenge.

READ MORE BELOW. 

The 20-year-old was the victim of a ruthless straight-sets scoreline that belies how close the British wildcard came to ruffling the feathers of the world No 3. 

Medvedev started feeling the effects of the tight contest in the third set, growing increasingly frustrated with his own game in the face of Fery’s confident play on Court No 1. 

In the end, experience won the day – and certainly Medvedev deserved to progress – but Fery’s show of spirit feels promising when temperature-checking the future of British men’s tennis. Particularly in light of the disappointing absence of Jack Draper from the championships due to injury.

MIKE DICKSON: First rain, then jigsaw pieces but Katie Boulter is quick to solve the puzzle with impressive victory at Wimbledon

Scattered bits of jigsaw on the grass, a court invasion mid-tiebreak, senior royalty watching, a full night’s sleep in between and a victory at Wimbledon.

This was no ordinary straight- sets first-round match for Katie Boulter, but thank goodness she managed to keep her head through several surreal experiences.

The 26-year-old from Leicestershire emerged from the day as the only British winner out of six starters – one of the few predictable things about a frantic day at Wimbledon.

READ MORE BELOW. 

Defending champion Elena Rybakina will step back onto Centre Court to continue her campaign against Alize Cornet. Cornet defeated Nao Hibino 6-2 6-2 yesterday, and Rybakina will be one of a number of today’s competitors looking to take advantage of the extra day’s rest as their opponents fall victim to chaotic scheduling. 

Alexander Zverev will open proceedings on Court No 1 against Gijs Brouwer, who came up through qualifying, and later that day Sloane Stephens will play No 20 seed Donna Vekic, and Jessica Pegula faces off against Cristina Bucsa.

Andrey Rublev is set to play his compatriot Aslan Karatsev, and later in the day on Court 2, Daniil Medvedev will hope Adrian Mannarino can’t take advantage of his fatigue to shut down a deep run in SW19. 

Stan Wawrinka, Leylah Fernandez, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex De Minaur, Frances Tiafoe, and Victoria Azarenka will also see match action throughout the day. 

And finally… it’s no Mahut-Isner, but Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego will hope the curtain finally goes down on their three-day first-round tussle after falling victim to the elements. 

Berrettini leads his compatriot 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 1-1 in the fourth set. 

For the first time in three days, something to be optimistic about! Zero per cent chance feels pretty confident, right? 

The All England Club will certainly hope so, as they’ve scheduled a whopping 76 matches to play through across their 18 courts. 

IAN HERBERT: The corner of SW19 where Ukraine war is forgotten as Russian athletes return to play at Wimbledon

The tennis on Court 16 is an activity going on in the background; something to gaze out on from the balconies and the high-end dining places which overlook it.

By the time the last of the clouds had cleared away and a 16-year-old Russian walked out to play there yesterday evening, the main balcony was empty and the hospitality areas had emptied out. The ideal place, then, to park the Russians whose part at these championships is so contentious.

They sign a declaration agreeing they don’t represent Russia (or Belarus), won’t accept money from them, support them or the invasion of Ukraine. Their nationality is not noted on the scoreboards…

READ MORE BELOW. 

It was a difficult day for Brit-watchers yesterday as Loffhagen, Heather Watson, Sonay Kartalall, Burrage, and Fery were all sent packing, but there’s a fresh crop of contenders hoping to make it through to round three this afternoon – and some with a strong chance. 

Liam Broady will open proceedings on Centre Court in a tricky clash against Casper Ruud. The No 6 seed and the world No 142 have never played one another before, and Broady will be more than wary of Ruud’s blistering current form. 

But the French Open finalist isn’t the biggest fan of grass, and has previously never made it past the second round in south west London. One of his biggest hinderances? A grass allergy. 

British wildcard Jan Choinski has a similiarly interesting match-up, facing Hubert Hurkacz on Court 18 in one of the first ties of a busy day. A victor on the same court yesterday, Katie Boulter will play back-to-back ties with her scheduled second-round match against Viktoriya Tomova likely taking place just over 24 hours after her defeat of Daria Saville. 

And last but not least in the singles, there’s that aforementioned Murray-Tsitsipas match to round off a day’s play on Centre Court. The pair have a knotty history, which should make the tie all the more watchable…

With the doubles starting today, there’s a raft of British talent starting – or returning – to action, including two-time doubles champion Jamie Murray and Jodie Burrage.  

Wimbledon take jigsaw puzzles OFF SALE at their shop to prevent Just Stop Oil eco-clowns scattering pieces on courts again, as security is stepped up

Wimbledon will no longer be selling jigsaw puzzles at the club shop after Just Stop Oil protestors caused havoc during two of yesterday’s matches on Court 18. 

The climate change activisits involved in the protests snuck confetti into the ground inside boxes of Centre Court jigsaw puzzles, and sprinted onto court to scatter the boxes’ contents across the grass. 

British No 1 Katie Boulter had her tie against Daria Saville disrupted, and both she and Saville helped groundstaff clear confetti and puzzle pieces from the court before play resumed. 

READ MORE BELOW. 

It was a mixed day for British fortunes as a number of wildcards bid farewell to their dreams of winning a home grand slam. Arthur Fery put in an excellent shift against Daniil Medvedev, who will be grateful he saw out their tight contest in just three sets to win 7-5 6-4 6-3, and George Loffhagen eventually fell to No 6 seed Holger Rune in straight sets too. 

Jodie Burrage nearly had a Centre Court debut to forget after Daria Kasatkina took her 6-0 in the first set, but her shifted momentum in the second set was stymied by a rain delay, and she was finally beaten 6-0 6-2. But British hope remains with the women’s No 1 Katie Boulter, who dispatched Daria Saville 7-5 6-2 with a brief pause for Just Stop Oil’s confetti-flinging. 

There was little by way of upsets, but Marta Kostyuk put in a heroic three-set performance to overturn her 6-0 defeat in the first set against Maria Sakkari to knock out the No 8 seed. 

Otherwise, Iga Swiatek, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Francis Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Grigor Dimitrov, Petra Kvitova and Beatriz Haddad Maia all progressed to their next rounds largely without incident. 

Taylor Fritz, who is the No 9 seed in SW19 had his feet held to the fire by Yannick Hanfmann, but eventually knocked him out 6-4 2-6 4-6 7-5 6-3. 

But the contest of the day – and one that should interest all Brit-watchers, came between Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas in an unusually-spicy first-round clash. Started on Tuesday and evenutally competed over a day later, Thiem put the No 5 seed under serious pressure as the pair saw out three tiebreakers. 

Tsitsipas eventually claimed victory 6-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (10-8), but at what cost? After playing until just before sunset, the Greek faces two-time champion Andy Murray on Centre Court this evening…

Hello and welcome to day four of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships – although you could be forgiven for thinking it was earlier in the week, as we still have some first round ties to play after significant rain delays. 

Yesterday’s attempt to clear the backlog of a staggering 87 matches was only partially successful, with rain – and the odd Just Stop Oil protestor – making the day relatively disjointed until the late afternoon. 

But luckily, today’s forecast has the weather looking as dry as a bone, so there should be minimal disruptions. That is, unless there have been any more jigsaw puzzles snuck into SW19…

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