Key events
Djokovic’s performance against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round drew all the superlatives, but perhaps it was a slightly misleading measure of where his game is at given that Tsitsipas has been in such horrendous form. Rinderknech is proving to be a tougher opponent, but Djokovic, at 39, still has that knack all the top players have of playing the biggest points better and, having saved a break point at 7-5, 0-1, punishes Rinderknech for his profligacy by breaking in the next game. Djokovic leads 7-5, 2-1 with the break.
Those wins for Osaka and Bencic mean Jannik Sinner v Jenson Brooksby is next on No 1, and Daniil Medvedev v Jan-Lennard Struff is getting going on No 3. So we’ve got another chance to see if any scars remain from Sinner’s French Open meltdown. Though given the defending champion’s vulnerability in the heat, perhaps he’ll be more exposed next week, if the potential heatwave arrives.
Pegula could face her fellow American Iva Jovic in the last 16, but Jovic, the 18-year-old with Serbian heritage who’s been backed by Djokovic to one day become a grand slam champion and world No 1, is close to dropping the second set against Alexandrova. Jovic trails 5-3, having won the first 6-3.
Pegula beats Bouzas Maneiro 6-1, 6-3
Hands are being shaken on No 2 Court, where Pegula, the fourth seed, has won the battle of the Jessicas in some style, matching Osaka’s scoreline against Kasatkina. It was on this court that Pegula lost in the first round last year, having been one of the favourites for the title. “I needed to avenge this court so badly,” she says in her on-court interview. “I also lost first round at Roland Garros [in May] and it really can mess with your mentality. So I’m proud of the way I’ve been playing. It was a really good day for me, I played clean from start to finish. Just proud of my energy on every single point.”
Djokovic is doing what Djokovic does, stepping it up when it matters to break Rinderknech for 6-5, as he finds a ridiculous angle after chasing down a drop shot, before unleashing a snarling return on his second break point. Serving for the opening set, he swiftly moves to 40-15, before an easy overhead at the net settles matters. Rinderknech doesn’t even attempt to chase it down, which perhaps doesn’t impress Usain Bolt, who’s watching in the Royal Box. Bolt is applauding Djokovic though, who’s a set ahead at 7-5.
Can Osaka push Sabalenka even further than she did in Paris (if Sabalenka gets past Jelena Ostapenko later)? In this form, yes I think she can. And I think she’d have the majority of the crowd on her side too, not only because of her popularity (a combination of her walk-on looks/her vulnerability in having been so open about her mental health in the past), but also because she’d be the underdog. And Wimbledon does love an underdog.
“In my career I’ve never won on this court so I’m glad to have made a really good memory here,” Osaka says. “I’ve played a lot of matches on grass the past two weeks [having reached the Bad Homburg final] so I felt really confident, but I’m trying to take it one day at a time, one point at a time even.” She’s then asked about her daughter’s birthday yesterday. “I shouldn’t be telling you this but she was really bad yesterday. We were going to take her to the park but she needed a timeout. She blew out her candles and she made a wish and I hope her wish is to behave better,” she says with a smile. Curiously she isn’t asked about the possibility of facing Sabalenka next though.
Osaka defeats Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3
There’s little time left for Kasatkina at this year’s Wimbledon, though, because her forehand loops long and Osaka has two match points on Kasatkina’s serve at 15-40. Kasatkina fends off the first but is powerless to stop the second! Osaka – after all of her past achievements in tennis, including the world No 1 ranking and four grand slam titles on hard courts – has broken new ground by reaching the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time and it’s wonderful to see her finally finding her feet on the grass. Up next could be a rematch of her blockbuster against Aryna Sabalenka from the French Open, when Sabalenka prevailed in two blistering sets.
Tumaini’s interview with Kasatkina from last year is a very good read, if you have the time:
Djokovic and Rinderknech have traded breaks for 3-3 in the first set; as have Osaka and Kasatkina for 3-3 in the second. But Osaka restores her advantage, breaking for 4-3, and Kasatkina – who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2018 but isn’t in the best form of her career and has never beaten Osaka before – is two games from defeat. Kasatkina is crafty and clever and fun to watch but Osaka hits the ball so much harder and she overpowers the Australian to advance to 6-1, 5-3.
Bencic beats Kalinskaya 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
… Bencic converts 6-4 into 8-5, with perhaps the shot of the match, a tremendous stop volley! Even Kalinskaya is applauding, despite the high stakes. Bencic, the 2021 Olympic champion, dispatches another winner for 9-5, four match points, and she needs only two as Bencic’s blistering return secures the victory! Bencic was truly tested there, but last year’s semi-finalist is back into the last 16, where she could face Coco Gauff.
Djokovic and Rinderknech are level at 2-2 in the first set; Osaka has extended her supremacy to 6-1, 3-2 with the break; Pegula leads Bouzas Maneiro 4-0; Jovic is 4-2 up on Alexandrova; Jodar is 2-1 ahead on serve against Mochizuki; and Bencic and Kalinskaya, after nearly three hours of back and forth, are into a tie-break in the decider. Bencic batters the lines for 6-4 with a wonderful point … but these aren’t match points, because it’s the final set it’s the first to 10 …
Patten and Heliovaara, Cash and Glasspool, and Skupski and Harrison – all Wimbledon men’s doubles champions past and present – are into the third round. Out have gone Marcus Willis and David Stevenson though. You may remember Willis from 10 years ago, when he became a bit of a Wimbledon cult hero after coming through qualifying as the world No 772 to reach the second round, where he lost to Federer, winning only seven games, but he did at least get to say that he managed to lob the great man on Centre Court.
Also getting under way: the fourth seed Jessica Pegula v Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro; the stupendously talented teen Iva Jovic v Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova; and the new Rafa on the block, Spain’s Rafael Jodar, against the Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki.
Djokovic’s opponent today is the 30-year-old Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, something of a late bloomer having had the best results of this grand slam career last year, when he also made history by playing his cousin Valentin Vacherot in the Shanghai Masters final.
I wonder what the former GOAT thinks of the current GOAT copying his look. And there’s another GOAT in attendance too, by the way, because Usain Bolt is in the Royal Box. But back to No 1 Court, because Osaka has dropped only five points on serve in a 6-1 first-set demolition of Kasatkina. The former world No 1 is looking supremely confident and is one set away from filling a curious gap in her record book by reaching the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time.
Safiullin’s reward for victory could be a fourth-round match against Djokovic. He also took out his fellow Russian Andrey Rublev in the first round and had a five-set tussle against Botic Van de Zandschulp in the second. And he’s played six matches to get this far, having come through qualifying. And you can see what it means to him as he breaks down in his on-court interview, when asked about the injury problems he had last year. “I’m super happy to be back,” he says, his voice cracking. And he can’t carry on. But he’ll be back in the second week and a date with Djokovic possibly awaits – the 7X champ is just walking on to Centre Court. Wearing that RF-style jacket again.
Safiullin shocks Fonseca 6-3, 6-3, 6-3!
Safiullin backs up the break for 5-2 and is a game away from taking out the talent who has long been seen as someone who could eventually challenge the Sinner-Alcaraz duopoly. Fonseca does, at least, hold serve to ask a question of Safiullin … but the Russian has answered every single one of them so far today and, now serving for the match, Safiullin drills a brilliant backhand winner down the line to get to 15-0! Which is rapidly 40-0. Three match points for the world No 132. Fonseca slips on the grass mid-point … and it sums up the Brazilian’s day, because he’s down and out when Safiullin swats away a forehand winner. Fonseca’s time at Wimbledon will surely come, but not this year, because he’s been thoroughly outplayed in an extraordinary performance from the qualifier.
Osaka, knives out, cuts through Kasatkina in the opening game with some superb serving, including an ace on game point at 40-15. Osaka is soon scenting blood on Kasatkina’s serve too, getting to a second break point at her advantage and then drilling a backhand winner past a stranded Kasatkina. Osaka already leads 2-0.
Krass! Fonseca has suddenly turned into Boris Becker, diving around the net on break point like there’s no tomorrow, and there may not be a tomorrow for Fonseca at this Wimbledon, because despite his net heroics to save that break point, Safiullin converts another, and the Russian qualifier just isn’t letting up. Safiullin leads 6-3, 6-3, 4-2 and is close to extinguishing hopes of a fourth-round rematch of Fonseca’s recent French Open victory over Djokovic.
Spot the difference.
The No 1 Court crowd are eagerly awaiting the entrance of O-Ren Ishii Naomi Osaka. And here she is, as her Kill Bill-inspired Wimbledon kimono gets the stage it deserves after matches on No 2 and No 3 so far. It’s not quite so resplendent as the version she wore in the first round, but it’s still some entrance nonetheless, but the kimono quickly comes off as she starts the warm-up against Daria Kasatkina, the Russian-turned-Australian who changed her nationality last year.
Bencic is feeling the scoreboard pressure as the Swiss serves to stay in the second set at 4-5. At deuce, Bencic biffs a backhand long. And then goes long again! They’re going to a third. Bencic is having some words with the umpire, but I’m not sure what she’s unhappy about. Though her mood won’t be improved by her recent record in three-setters; she’s lost four of her past five, while Kalinskaya has prevailed in five of her past six. It’s Bencic 6-4, 4-6 Kalinskaya.
The smile is back on Fonseca’s face as he hits an outrageous improvised forehand winner for 0-15 on Safiullin’s serve. Can he build on this? The initial signs are not good. An errant forehand follows on a simple rally ball, and another flies long for 30-15. Safiullin is well on top in the next point, but Fonseca courageously finds a way back into it for 30-all … and Safiullin then plonks into the net! So Fonseca has a break point at 30-40 … but he can’t get Safiullin’s smash back into play. Deuce. Advantage Fonseca. Deuce. Advantage Safiullin. Safiullin survives and Fonseca still hasn’t broken the Russian qualifier in this third-round match. Safiullin leads 6-3, 6-3, 2-1 on serve.
Skupski and Harrison are through in the men’s doubles, in two tie-break sets. Patten and Heliovaara are into a decider, while Cash and Glasspool are close to victory, having broken for 4-3 in the third.
It seems the injury problem for Kalinskaya is to do with her left hamstring, but the treatment seems to have done the trick, because the Russian races to 15-40 on Bencic’s serve, the first break points of the second set. Bencic blocks them both, securing four straight points to hold for 6-4, 4-4.
Safiullin strolls to 0-15, 0-30, 0-40 on Fonseca’s serve; it looks as if the Russian qualifier won’t even have to serve this second set out. Safiullin doesn’t win the first set point but does the second, when he drills deep to Fonseca’s backhand side … and the Brazilian can only net! Safiullin leads 6-3, 6-3. But … Fonseca did come from two sets down to defeat Djokovic a month ago, as the 19-year-old came of age at the French Open, and he’ll be hoping to draw on the spirit of that victory now.
On No 3 Court, Kalinskaya now has the trainer on for that leg injury, with Bencic 6-4, 3-4 ahead. After five breaks of serve in the opening set, both have found their serving groove in set two, and there haven’t even been any break points. That’s not the case on No 2, where Fonseca finds himself in an even deeper hole, trailing 6-3, 5-3, the break coming in game seven when the teenager misfired with one of those fearhands of his.
Speaking of the men’s doubles, four British Wimbledon champions are currently in action: the defending champions Cash and Glasspool, the 2024 winners Henry Patten and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara, and the 2023 champ Neal Skupski, who this year is playing with the American Christian Harrison, having won the 2026 Australian Open title together. Cash and Glasspool are locked at one set all in their second-round match, Patten and Heliovaara are a set to the good, as are Skupski and Harrison.
Matt Hughes
Leading men’s doubles players are angry at plans from the ATP Tour to cut prize money and halve the size of tournaments.
Under proposals presented to the players at Wimbledon this week, the ATP wants to reduce the share of prize money allocated to doubles events at its tournaments from 20% to 10%, with the savings passed on to the singles players, whose share would rise to 90% of each purse.
The proposed changes would bring the ATP in line with the four grand slams, which allocate about 10% of prize money to doubles, but has led to a backlash from the locker room.
Reigning Wimbledon doubles champion Julian Cash, who with Lloyd Glasspool last year became the first British pair to win the men’s doubles title in SW19 for 89 years, described the ATP’s plans as “sad and catastrophic”.
The ATP’s position is that as prize money has increased in recent years, allocating 20% to doubles is no longer justifiable, given commercial, broadcast and spectator interest in the event.
ATP Masters events currently pay £350,000 per pair in prize money for winning double tournaments, and a singles player would have to reach the semi-finals of their event to earn a comparable sum.
The other early singles match is Bencic, the 2021 Olympic champion and last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist, against the 19th seed, Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya. The Swiss looks as if she resisted the temptation to stay awake/get up early to watch the World Cup win over Algeria as she leads 6-4, 2-2 – though she was pulled back from 4-1 ahead in an opener that had five breaks of serve. Bencic is a set away from becoming the first woman to advance to week two – and Kalinskaya’s not being helped here by a left leg injury.
On No 2 Court the Brazil shirts and flags are out in force, but the flags are fluttering a little less frantically when Fonseca drops the first set 6-3 against Roman Safiullin. At first look, Safiullin may not appear to be much of a danger for the 19-year-old Brazilian with the nuclear forehand; Safiullin had to come through qualifying and he hadn’t won a grand slam match in 2026 before this tournament. But Safiullin’s heavy hitting suits the grass, shown by his run to quarter-finals here in 2023, and he also defeated his fellow Russian Andrey Rublev, the 12th seed, in five sets in round one.
Day four rewind
Order of play (all times BST)
Centre Court 1.30pm
(25) Arthur Rinderknech (Fra) v (7) Novak Djokovic (Ser)
(1) Aryna Sabalenka (Blr) v Jelena Ostapenko (Lat)
(3) Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can) v Michael Zheng (USA)
No 1 Court 1pm
Daria Kasatkina (Aus) v (14) Naomi Osaka (Jpn)
(1) Jannik Sinner (Ita) v Jenson Brooksby (USA)
Claire Liu (USA) v (7) Cori Gauff (USA)
No 2 Court 11am
Roman Safiullin (Rus) v (24) Joao Fonseca (Bra)
(4) Jessica Pegula (USA) v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (Spa)
Hubert Hurkacz (Pol) v (21) Tommy Paul (USA)
No 3 Court 11am
(11) Belinda Bencic (Swi) v (19) Anna Kalinskaya (Rus)
Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger) v (8) Daniil Medvedev (Rus)
(10) Karolina Muchova (Cze) v Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Tha)
Court 4 11am
Nadiia Kichenok (Ukr) + Makoto Ninomiya (Jpn) v (16) Asia Muhammad (USA) + Fanny Stollar (Hun)
Jesper De Jong (Ned) + Valentin Royer (Fra) v Andrey Golubev (Kaz) + Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz)
Sorana Cirstea (Rom) + Anna Kalinskaya (Rus) v Anhelina Kalinina (Ukr) + Dayana Yastremska (Ukr)
Court 5 11am
Ivan Liutarevich (Blr) + Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (Mex) v (14) Austin Krajicek (USA) + Nikola Mektic (Cro)
Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) + Jaqueline Cristian (Rom) v (4) Elise Mertens (Bel) + Shuai Zhang (Chn)
(14) Storm Hunter (Aus) + Catherine McNally (USA) v Anna Bondar (Hun) + Magdalena Frech (Pol)
Freya Christie (Gbr) + Eden Silva (Gbr) v Kimberly Birrell (Aus) + Talia Gibson (Aus)
Court 6 11am
McCartney Kessler (USA) + Diana Shnaider (Rus) v Anastasia Detiuc (Cze) + Irina Khromacheva (Rus)
Tallon Griekspoor (Ned) + Botic Van de Zandschulp (Ned) v Petr Nouza (Cze) + Neil Oberleitner (Aut)
Elsa Jacquemot (Fra) + Diane Parry (Fra) v Linda Noskova (Cze) + Rebecca Sramkova (Svk)
Court 8 11am
(7) Kevin Krawietz (Ger) + Tim Puetz (Ger) v Roman Andres Burruchaga (Arg) + Thiago Agustin Tirante (Arg)
Miyu Kato (Jpn) + Kamilla Rakhimova (Uzb) v (9) Ellen Perez (Aus) + Demi Schuurs (Ned)
Xinyu Jiang (Chn) + Yi Fan Xu (Chn) v Viktorija Golubic (Swi) + Tereza Valentova (Cze)
Yannick Hanfmann (Ger) + Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger) v Vit Kopriva (Cze) + Filip Pieczonka (Pol)
Court 11 12.30pm
12:30: (5) Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) + Erin Routliffe (Nzl) v Marta Kostyuk (Ukr) + Elena Gabriela Ruse (Rom), Guido Andreozzi (Arg) + Aldila Sutjiadi (Ina) v Manuel Guinard (Fra) + Kristina Mladenovic (Fra), Lucas Miedler (Aut) + Hanyu Guo (Chn) v Andres Molteni (Arg) + Darija Jurak-Schreiber (Cro)<
Court 12 11am
Corentin Moutet (Fra) + Arthur Reymond (Fra) v (3) Julian Cash (Gbr) + Lloyd Glasspool (Gbr)
(18) Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus) v (16) Iva Jovic (USA)
(22) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spa) v Marton Fucsovics (Hun)
Court 14 11am
Jakub Paul (Swi) + Ryan Seggerman (USA) v (5) Christian Harrison (USA) + Neal Skupski (Gbr)
John Peers (Aus) + Katie Swan (Gbr) v Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra) + Laura Siegemund (Ger)
(7) Lloyd Glasspool (Gbr) + Tereza Mihalikova (Svk) v Kevin Krawietz (Ger) + Venus Williams (USA)
Francisco Cabral (Por) + Ellen Perez (Aus) v David Pel (Ned) + Lyudmyla Kichenok (Ukr)
Court 15 11am
Ignacio Buse (Per) + Marco Trungelliti (Arg) v (11) Francisco Cabral (Por) + Lucas Miedler (Aut)
Luke Johnson (Gbr) + Emily Appleton (Gbr) v (8) JJ Tracy (USA) + Anna Danilina (Kaz)
(6) Sara Errani (Ita) + Jasmine Paolini (Ita) v Mariia Kozyreva (Rus) + Iryna Shymanovich (Blr)
Court 16 11am
(6) Marcelo Arevalo (Esa) + Mate Pavic (Cro) v David Stevenson (Gbr) + Marcus Willis (Gbr)
Caroline Dolehide (USA) + Alycia Parks (USA) v Elena Pridankina (Rus) + Qianhui Tang (Chn)
Jan Zielinski (Pol) + Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) v Marcus Willis (Gbr) + Heather Watson (Gbr)
Court 17 11am
Alexa Guarachi (Chi) + Alicja Rosolska (Pol) v (2) Gabriela Dabrowski (Can) + Luisa Stefani (Bra)
Adam Pavlasek (Cze) + David Rikl (Cze) v Rinky Hijikata (Aus) + Marc Polmans (Aus)
(4) Henry Patten (Gbr) + Olivia Nicholls (Gbr) v Evan King (USA) + Gabriela Dabrowski (Can)
Court 18 11am
(1) Harri Heliovaara (Fin) + Henry Patten (Gbr) v Mac Kiger (USA) + Patrik Trhac (USA)
(23) Rafael Jodar (Spa) v Shintaro Mochizuki (Jpn),
Nikola Bartunkova (Cze) v Barbora Krejcikova (Cze)
Preamble
Hello! And welcome to our coverage of day five, as the third round begins. The grass is a little more battle worn, 18 of the 19 Brits who started in the singles are dearly departed, but the leading contenders still remain – with the exceptions of Ben Shelton and Mirra Andreeva – and today we’ll get another chance to see Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka in action – with Sabalenka against the feisty and fighty Jelena Ostapenko a possible highlight, in the second match on Centre Court.
Naomi Osaka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Jessica Pegula, Barbora Krejcikova, Belinda Bencic and the prodigious trio of Joao Fonseca, Rafael Jodar and Iva Jovic play too, while Venus Williams, who’s only 10 years shy (!) of the combined age of those three tremendous teens – begins her mixed doubles campaign. Which is hopefully a taster of things to come in the women’s doubles, if Serena’s knee recovers in time.
Play starts at 1.30pm on Centre, 1pm on No 1 and is already under way on the outside courts. So don’t go anywhere!