Wimbledon briefing: Day four recap, Friday's order of play and Raducanu preview

South Wales Guardian

7 hours ago

The three remaining British players will look to book their places in the last 16 on Friday, with Raducanu's mouthwatering clash with world number one Aryna Sabalenka closing proceedings on Centre Court.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at Thursday's action and previews day five of the Championships.
Jack Draper admitted he has a lot of work to do if he is to challenge at Wimbledon in the future after a crushing loss to Marin Cilic in the second round.
The British number one is still yet to make it beyond the last 64 at his home grand slam and, having come into the tournament as the fourth seed after a brilliant season so far, the 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 defeat was his most painful yet.
'Even though I've had such an amazing progression the last 12 months, I've still got a lot of areas that I need to improve in my game,' the 23-year-old said.
'In some ways that's exciting, and in some ways that's hard to deal with because I thought I was ahead of where I was.'
Novak Djokovic racked up his 99th match win at Wimbledon and sent a message to title favourites Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
The 38-year-old proved he is a major contender at this year's Wimbledon with a near-flawless performance in 6-3 6-2 6-0 victory over Britain's Dan Evans.
And the seven-time champion has his eyes firmly on another title in SW19, with no time for thoughts of retirement.
He said: 'I don't pause to reflect, to be honest. I don't have time. I would like to. But I think that's going to come probably when I set the racket aside and then sip margaritas on the beach with Federer and Nadal and just reflect on our rivalry and everything.'
British number one Emma Raducanu takes on top seed Aryna Sabalenka for a place in the fourth round of a women's draw that has only five top-10 seeds remaining.
Sonay Kartal is back in the third round for the second successive year and starts as favourite against French qualifier Diane Parry, who stunned 12th seed Diana Shnaider to reach this stage.
And Cameron Norrie, the 2022 semi-finalist, will also fancy his chances against world number 73 Mattia Bellucci after the British number three knocked out 12th seed Frances Tiafoe in the second round.
Emma Raducanu's reward for knocking out 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova was an early meeting with world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
They have played once before, in Indian Wells last spring, when Sabalenka won in straight sets but in a close enough contest to give the British number one encouragement.
Raducanu said: 'She's number one in the world for a reason. I'm going to have to be aggressive but pick my moments and not kind of be overly (aggressive).
'I don't think I'm going to go out there and out-power her. I think I'm going to have to try and be creative, as well.'
Centre Court (from 1.30pm)Taylor Fritz (5) v Alejandro Davidovich FokinaCarlos Alcaraz (2) v Jan-Lennard StruffEmma Raducanu v Aryna Sabalenka (1)
Court One (from 1pm)Sonay Kartal v Diane ParryCameron Norrie v Mattia BellucciElina Svitolina (14) v Elise Mertens (24)
Sunny changing to partly cloudy by nighttime, with a maximum temperature of 27C, according to the Met Office.