Andy Murray was leading Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a Centre Court match at Wimbledon when it was called off due to a curfew.
Let it be noted that the rain-soaked first round of Wimbledon 2023 finally concluded at 3:23 p.m. local time on Thursday, Day 4 of the tournament, 48 hours later than expected, when Alexander Zverev defeated Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). (More Tennis Information)
Zverev was meant to begin and, of course, conclude on Tuesday. Instead, he didn’t touch the court for the first time in two weeks until approximately 17 1/2 hours after Novak Djokovic had already advanced to the third round.
“Took me three days,” Zverev laughed, “but I’m here.”
For the first time this week, the sun shone brightly at the All England Club, and the showers were nowhere to be found.
Instead, there was plenty of action, lots of results — 56 in total — and plenty of drama, maybe none more so than in one highly anticipated match that did not take place: The match between two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray and two-time major finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas was called off at 10:40 p.m. and will resume on Friday.
Played with the roof closed at a raucous Centre Court full of “Let’s go, Andy! Fans’ chants of “Let’s go!” were cut short immediately after Murray grabbed a two-sets-to-one lead. Tsitsipas won the first set 7-6 (3), but Murray won the following two 7-6 (2), 6-4. Murray, 36, tumbled and fell behind a baseline but arose and finished the third set moments before play was called off.
Alizé Cornet shed tears after falling to the ground and injuring her leg at 5-all in the second set of her 6-2, 7-6 (2) loss to defending champion Elena Rybakina.
Donna Vekic shed tears as well, and she triumphed. She rallied from a set and 5-2 behind in the second set to defeat 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens.
“I was losing,” Vekic subsequently admitted. “I didn’t just feel like I was losing; I felt like I was being killed.”
Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion who is now 38 and coming off years of injuries and operations, knows what comes next: a match against Djokovic, who has won seven of his men’s-record 23 major titles at this event.
“I don’t think I have a chance to win Wimbledon,” Wawrinka admitted.
“It’s a privilege to play Novak here….” “Hopefully, I’ll be able to make a competitive match,” he continued, “but based on recent results, I don’t really stand a chance.”
No. 14 seed Lorenzo Musetti, qualifier Maximillian Marterer, Mikael Ymer, Quentin Halys, and Roman Safiullin all advanced to the third round at the All England Club for the first time.
Ymer rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat No. 9 Taylor Fritz of the United States 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
No. 10 Frances Tiafoe, a semifinals at the US Open last September, and No. 16 Tommy Paul, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in January, both won to advance to the next round.
Two American women, No. 4 Jessica Pegula and 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, joined them in the third round.
Casper Ruud, who had finished second in three of the previous five majors, was defeated on Centre Court by British wild-card Liam Broady, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Ruud has never advanced past the second round of Wimbledon in four appearances.
“I’m going to try again.” “Of course, it’s a goal of mine in my career to do well here at some point,” said Ruud, who was seeded fourth in the men’s tournament. “It did not occur this year.” I will return. I truly enjoy coming here. It’s really a unique location.”
Anett Kontaveit had reached the end of her career. She was the last athlete to lose to Serena Williams, in the US Open last year when ranked second, and announced her retirement before Wimbledon due to a chronic poor back.
Mirra Andreeva, a 16-year-old Russian qualifier, was the latest to show promise.
Andreeva advanced to the third round of her second major after 2021 French Open singles and doubles champion Barbora Krejcikova retired due to injury while trailing 6-3, 4-0.
“For sure, it’s not the way I wanted to win the match,” Andreeva admitted. “However, I made it to the next round, so I’m happy.”
