Fans quickly noticed new tennis power couple Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Wimbledon mixed doubles draw when it was released, but they are not the only tennis couple in the field.

Partners Katie Boulter of Great Britain and Alex de Minaur of Australia are also playing mixed doubles together for the first time.

“I’ve been bugging her for a while to play. We said we would give it a go at least one time. It’s going to be exciting,” De Minaur said after his first-round singles win Thursday. “It’s going to be fun. I’m going to enjoy it. I’ve been prepping playing a lot of doubles this grass-court season for this mixed. She hasn’t on the other hand. She might be a little bit rusty, but I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Boulter, who is into the third round in singles, is thrilled to be giving it a go with De Minaur.

“I think it’s something we’ve both wanted to do for quite some time. I think we’re both going to really enjoy it and cherish it. It’s not often that you get to have that experience together, especially at Wimbledon,” Boulter said. “We’re going to go out there and have a swing. We’ve got nothing to lose, so I’m looking forward to it.”

The Briton, who will hope the home crowd helps push her and De Minaur through, believes it’s going to be “an experience” competing alongside her boyfriend.

“It’s going to test our relationship. I don’t doubt that for a minute,” Boulter said. “No, it’s a totally different vibe going on the court with him. I think we bring the best out of each other, in terms of tennis, on and off the court. I think we’re going to have a couple smiles on our faces, enjoying ourselves. Yeah, he’s obviously got a lot more experience than me in doubles, and I’ll be looking to draw off him.”

De Minaur refused to name himself captain of their on-court partnership, though. According to the Australian, they have not yet discussed who will play on which side of the court.

“We have not even gotten to that phase,” De Minaur said. “But I would probably recommend her to take the forehand and I might stick to the backhand side. But hey, we never know, we might just switch it up after a set if it’s not going too well.”

Most of all, they look forward to having fun on the court. Boulter and De Minaur will play Australians John Peers and Storm Hunter in the first round.

“I always say this: I play my best tennis when I’m relaxed. I’m enjoying myself. I try really hard to keep reminding myself of that. It really does bring the best out of me,” Boulter said. “I think having him with me will keep me very calm and hopefully we can play some really good doubles.”

Andy Murray will return to court on Friday needing one more set to reach the third round at Wimbledon for just the second time since 2017. The Scot was leading World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-4 on Thursday when play was suspended for the day on Centre Court at 10:38 p.m. The decision was made to stop the match given that a conclusion before the 11 p.m. curfew was very unlikely.

With a raucous crowd watching on, little could separate two-time champion Murray and Greek Tsitsipas as they went blow for blow in a blockbuster second-round clash under the Centre Court roof.

Tsitsipas struck his forehand with destructive power throughout the two hours and 53 minutes they spent on court, but Murray grew as the match went on. After losing the first set, the former World No. 1 showed great movement and struck his groundstrokes with more aggression in the second and third sets to end the day ahead.

There was one moment of worry for Murray in the final game of the third set, though. The Scot fell and clutched his groin while serving for the set, but returned to his feet and sealed the set on the following point. The former World No. 1 will need to examine any lingering consequences of the fall overnight.

Murray and Tsitsipas are locked at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, with the Greek winning their previous major meeting at the US Open in 2021. The winner will play Laslo Djere in the third round after the Serbian defeated #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) 6-3.

Murray holds a 61-12 record at Wimbledon and is a two-time champion, having triumphed in 2013 and 2016. When he returns on Friday, he will aim to earn his maiden Top 5 win of the season and first since June 2022, when he beat Tsitsipas on grass in Stuttgart. The Scot is also aiming to become just the eighth man in the Open Era (since 1968) to earn 200 Grand Slam match wins.

Tsitsipas, who clawed past Dominic Thiem in five sets in the first round, is trying to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the third time. His best result came in 2018 when he advanced to the fourth round.

In a high-quality first set, Murray and Tsitsipas went blow for blow, with both players offering little opportunity to their opponent on serve. Tsitsipas was the more aggressive of the two, hitting 21 winners in the set compared to 11 from Murray, but the Scot showed good movement to hang in rallies.

After Murray saved a set point on serve at 5-6 with a forehand that clipped the line, Tsitsipas gained control in the tie-break. The World No. 5, demonstrated good footwork to dictate with the forehand, overpowering Murray to move ahead.

Murray responded in the second set, though. He hit his watertight groundstrokes with depth and locked in during the tie-break, committing just two unforced errors in the set to level. The Scot raised his fist to the air when he walked back to his chair, embracing the roar from the home crowd.

The former World No. 1 then clinched an early break in the third set and showed his fighting spirit, saving two break points on serve at 2-1 to maintain his momentum. The Scot was strong on serve from then on to take a two-sets-to-one lead.

Denis Kudla stopped Kei Nishikori’s six-match winning streak on the ATP Challenger Tour Thursday, when the American survived the former World No. 4 at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The World No. 180 Kudla defeated Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at the Challenger 75 event, which was the Japanese star’s second tournament in 20 months. Nishikori began his comeback in June at the Caribbean Open in Puerto Rico, where he went on a dream title run with the loss of just one set.

Despite making 45 per cent of his first serves, Kudla turned the two-hour, 21-minute contest into a physical battle and played with depth from the baseline to hurt Nishikori, who let slip a break advantage at 2-1 in the decider. The 30-year-old Kudla will next meet Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin in the last eight.

Nishikori will be in ATP Challenger Tour action again next week in Chicago, Illinois. The 12-time tour-level titlist will then play the ATP Tour events in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. The 33-year-old, who underwent arthroscopic left hip surgery last year, is No. 478 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

A Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry that has produced a host of classic encounters comes to Wimbledon for the first time on Friday, when Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka clash at the grass-court major.

The former World No. 3 Wawrinka is trying to complete a full set of Grand Slam victories against 23-time major champion Djokovic, having already defeated the Serbian at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open. Roger Federer is the only player to have completed that feat against the seven-time year-end World No. 1.

“I think it’s an honour to play Novak here,” said Wawrinka after his second-round triumph against Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Thursday in London. “I was missing that in my career, to play him in Wimbledon. That’s the last [major where] I never played him, and it’s going to be a difficult challenge.”

Ahead of the 27th tour-level meeting between seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic and three-time major winner Wawrinka, ATPTour.com looks back on six of the duo’s most epic Grand Slam battles.

2013 Australian Open R16, Djokovic d Wawrinka 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 12-10
Wawrinka’s 2013 Australian Open campaign ended in fourth-round defeat, but it was arguably the moment the Swiss announced himself on the Grand Slam stage. Playing to reach his maiden major quarter-final, he led the defending champion 6-1, 5-2 before Djokovic prevailed in a nailbiting deciding set for a five-hour, two-minute triumph on Rod Laver Arena.

After holding off Wawrinka, Djokovic went on to lift his fourth Australian Open title to kick-start a 2013 season in which he also lifted three ATP Masters 1000 crowns and triumphed at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

2013 US Open SF, Djokovic d Wawrinka 2-6, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
The rest of 2013 also proved fruitful for Wawrinka, who broke the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in May with a final run in Madrid. The Swiss then charged to his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open, where he and Djokovic played out their second major classic of the year on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

As in Melbourne, Wawrinka led Djokovic by a set and a break in New York, but Djokovic stayed cool once again to overhaul the Swiss and claim a four-hour, nine-minute victory that earned him a place in his fourth consecutive US Open final (l. to Nadal).

Stan Wawrinka/Novak Djokovic” />

_{^{Djokovic’s 2013 US Open semi-final win was his 12th in a 14-match winning streak against Wawrinka. Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty.}}

2014 Australian Open QF, Wawrinka d Djokovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7
Wawrinka entered the 2014 Australian Open quarter-finals with an 0-3 record against Djokovic at the majors, but past disappointments did nothing to deter the Swiss. He avenged his pair of fifth-set heartaches from the previous year by prevailing in yet another epic battle with his great rival. It was Wawrinka’s jaw-dropping power that eventually overwhelmed Djokovic’s renowned defence in a way few others on Tour could manage.

With his four-hour victory, Wawrinka ended a 25-match winning streak at Melbourne Park for Djokovic, who was chasing his fourth consecutive title at the hard-court major. The Swiss backed up that win in style, defeating Tomas Berdych and then Rafael Nadal on Rod Laver Arena to claim his maiden Grand Slam title at the age of 28.

2015 Australian Open SF, Djokovic d Wawrinka 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
Djokovic reasserted his Grand Slam dominance over Wawrinka a year later in Melbourne, where the Serbian roused a scintillating finish to claim another five-setter en route to his fifth Australian Open crown.

Djokovic’s triumph in Melbourne, where he defeated Andy Murray in the final, began a year of unprecedented success for the Serbian. He lifted a personal-best 11 tour-level titles in 2015, including two further major wins at Wimbledon and the US Open, six ATP Masters 1000 crowns and victory at the Nitto ATP Finals.

2015 Roland Garros F, Wawrinka d Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
In that year of almost non-stop success for Djokovic, it was Wawrinka who ultimately prevented the Serbian from completing the Grand Slam — winning all four majors in the same season — in stunning fashion at Roland Garros. Djokovic became just the second player to defeat Rafael Nadal at the clay-court major in the quarter-finals but was unable to resist a barrage of clean baseline hitting from Wawrinka, who delivered a stunning championship-match display.

“It was a part of my career [in which] I was playing such a good level that I knew, when I was entering the court against Novak in a Grand Slam, I was able to beat him,” reflected Wawrinka on Tuesday at Wimbledon. “I have a powerful game from the baseline — forehand, backhand — and I was physically ready to compete with him. I had some amazing matches, probably the two best matches of my career at Roland Garros [in 2015] and the US Open [in 2016].”

Stan Wawrinka” />

^{_{An inspired Stan Wawrinka defeats Novak Djokovic in the 2015 final at Roland Garros. Photo: Julian Finney/Getty.}}

2016 US Open F, Wawrinka d Djokovic 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3
Wawrinka rallied in tough conditions to stay perfect in Grand Slam finals and become a three-time major winner as he physically outlasted Djokovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium in at the 2016 US Open. The then-31-year-old Wawrinka’s three-hour, 55-minute triumph against the defending champion made him just the fifth man in the Open Era to win multiple singles crowns after turning 30.

“I think [they were] two different kinds of match,” recalled Wawrinka of his Roland Garros and US Open final triumphs. “I think tennis-wise, probably [Roland Garros was better]. I think that’s where I was playing the best. I think mentally or physically, more the US Open. We had a tough last four, five days of the tournament. It was really humid, really physical for both of us. We played some really tough battles to get into the final. So, [it was a] different feeling.”

Andrey Rublev dug deep to bring up a major milestone Thursday at Wimbledon, where the seventh seed defeated Aslan Karatsev 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 for his 50th Grand Slam match win.

Rublev reacted well after dropping the first set to seal a two-hour, 52-minute second-round victory against the World No. 50 Karatsev on Court 2. The 25-year-old claimed the only break of serve in each of the second and third sets before overcoming a late wobble on serve to level the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1.

5O Grand Slam wins ✅@AndreyRublev97 from a set down defeats Karatsev 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.Wimbledon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Wimbledon | Wimbledon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/D1CMK9wnaY

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 6, 2023

Rublev was broken by Karatsev when serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, but made no mistake the second time around at 6-5 to advance to the third round at Wimbledon for the second time. His opponent as he bids to equal his personal-best showing at the grass-court major, a fourth-round run from 2021, will be wild card David Goffin or qualifier Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera.

Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini also enjoyed the taste of victory at SW19 on Thursday. The pair both advanced to the second round after finally completing their long delayed openers at the All England Club.

The 19th seeded Zverev impressed on his first appearance at The Championships this year. He downed Dutchman Gijs Brouwer 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) to reach the second round for the sixth time in seventh Wimbledon appearances. The 26-year-old German, who reached the fourth round in 2017 and 2021, will next play Yosuke Watanuki, who beat Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-7(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 6-3.

Berrettini and his countryman Lorenzo Sonego returned to court for the third consecutive day. To complete their first-round clash. Berrettini had led by two sets to one overnight and the 2021 finalist completed a 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(7), 6-3 triumph on Court 12 in a match that began on Tuesday afternoon.

With his win, Berrettini avenged his loss to his good friend Sonego on the grass in Stuttgart last month. The 27-year-old Italian will play Alex de Minaur in the second round, after the Australian completed a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(2) triumph against qualifier Kimmer Coppejans.