Andy Murray takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the standout match at Wimbledon on Thursday in a contest with a spicy history after Stan Wawrinka set up a tasty clash with Novak Djokovic.
In the biggest shock of the tournament so far, world number four Casper Ruud crashed out at the hands of British wild card Liam Broady in five sets.
Defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina reached the last 32 with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) win against French veteran Alize Cornet despite an error-strewn display.
Fifth seed Tsitsipas defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Murray in a five-set first-round epic at the US Open in 2021.
Britain’s Murray was furious that the Greek took a medical timeout after dropping the third set and then an eight-minute toilet break at the end of the fourth.
Former world number one Murray sarcastically tweeted: “Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitsipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bezos to fly into space. Interesting.”
However, ahead of their clash on Centre Court, Tsitsipas said the two men had buried the hatchet.
The 24-year-old has never played on Centre Court, where Murray captured the 2013 and 2016 Wimbledon titles.
While he had to play his opening match with Dominic Thiem over two days due to the torrential rain that wiped out most of the programme on Tuesday, Murray had the advantage of seeing off Ryan Peniston under the Centre Court roof.
Rest factor
That gave the 36-year-old an extra day of rest on Wednesday, which could be a key factor.
There still were a clutch of first-round matches on Thursday, including Alexander Zverev’s 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5) win against Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer.
The chaos means that while men’s defending champion Djokovic played his second-round match on Wednesday, top seed Carlos Alcaraz must wait until Friday.
Djokovic, chasing a record-equalling eighth men’s title, will next face Switzerland’s Wawrinka, who beat Argentine 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Wawrinka, 38, has won three Grand Slams but he has suffered a series of injury problems in recent years and has slipped to 88th in the rankings.
He has won just six of 26 matches against Djokovic but has beaten him in two Grand Slam finals.
“I will enjoy it if I don’t get killed,” Wawrinka joked. “Novak is an amazing champion. I am happy to get the chance to play him on grass before I finish my career.”
Britain’s Broady delighted home fans by coming through his match against French Open finalist Ruud 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to set up a third-round match against Canadian 26th seed Denis Shapovalov.
“When I went to bed last night, I was having a think of what I’d say if I won the match, but now I’m here I don’t know what to say,” said the world 142.
“I said to my mum this morning, she doesn’t like watching, but I said I’ve already won £80,000 ($102,000) this week so she can chill out a bit.”
Kazakh third seed Rybakina won the first set against Cornet 6-2 but was forced to battle hard in the second.
She eventually held serve after a gruelling 11th game featuring 12 deuces, during which Cornet needed medical treatment after an agonising fall, going on to win the tie-break.
‘New chapter’
Men’s seventh seed Andrey Rublev beat Russian compatriot Aslan Karatsev in four sets while 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini also progressed.
However, US ninth seed Taylor Fritz was knocked out by Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Ukrainian wildcard Elina Svitolina beat Belgian 28th seed Elise Mertens 6-1, 1-6, 6-1, and two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka also went through.
American qualifier Sofia Kenin followed up her shock win against compatriot Coco Gauff by defeating China’s Wang Xinyu in straight sets.
Polish 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz, who beat Roger Federer in the quarter-finals in 2021, saw off British wildcard Jan Choinski 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
