Key events
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Mirra Andreeva (7) beats Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 7-6 (4)
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Jakub Mensik beats Marcus Giron 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
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Elisabetta Cocciaretto beats Katie Volynets 6-0 6-4
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De Minaur beats Cazaux 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0
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Cobolli beats Pinnington Jones 6-1, 7-6, 6-2
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Navarro beats Kudermetova 6-1, 6-2
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Today’s order of play
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Preamble
On 17, Rinderknech is serving for the match against Garin; I’m not sure I’ve seen a player whose action is as face-on as his. It works, though.
Next on No 1 Court: Iga Swiatek (8) v Caty McNally.
We must, though, credit Bronzetti, who forced Andreeva play the tiebreak that she did. If she can keep hitting that level, she’ll move up the rankings, but of course the difference between those at the top and the rest isn’t just how well they can play but how they play most often.
Mirra Andreeva (7) beats Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 7-6 (4)
When she needed to lift it, she launched it into the stratosphere; Mirra Andreeva knows, and next for her it’s Baptiste or Mboko.
Djokovic has been putting Evans under constant pressure, so it’s no surprise that there’s an early break in set two. Elastic Man leads 6-3 2-1.
Yeah, Mirra Mirra on the charge. She doubles that mini-break for 4-1, sticks in the next point when it’s tough, switches momentum, takes the point, and this is near-perfect behaviour, a gorgeous combination of class, intensity and certainty.
Andreeva holds easily, so here comes the breaker. I’d love to get a deciding set – we deserve it – but I’d not be shocked if she finds something. And, as I type, a sensational backhand cross-court earns her an immediate mini-break.
Elsewhere, Darderi has taken the second set against Fery; Dimitrov and Moutet are level at a set apiece; and Auger-Alissime trails Struff 1-2 2-3.
Wowwee! Down 30-40, Bronzetti saves break point with a glorious drop; had she missed it, she’d have had one chance to break, else she’d have been gone. And from deuce, she quickly closes out, so Andreeva must now serve to stay in the set at 6-1 5-6.
Munar, who leads Morzsan by two sets to love, has broken in set three. At 3-1, he’s nearly there.
Evans made him work for it, but Djokovic would not be denied. He only lost three points on serve the entire set and is looking pretty good out there, I must say. It’s almost as if he’s a seven-time champion.
Andreeva eventually holds for 5-5 in the second, while Evans saves a break point but can’t get out of the game; Djokovic breaks him for 5-3 in the third and quickly makes 30-0.
Jakub Mensik beats Marcus Giron 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
Next for Mensik it’s Cobolli (22), and my advice is that you don’t miss it.
Elisabetta Cocciaretto beats Katie Volynets 6-0 6-4
Next for her, Jacquemot or Bencic, and I wonder if she might be the surprise hero of this year’s competition.
Andreeva is so mentally solid, saving both while, on 16, Cocciaretto has match point against Volynets…
Rinderknech, memorably described as a “handsome [redcated] with a huge serve” – you’d take it – by Coach Calv Betton on Tuesday’s blog, has broken Garin for 2-0 in the fifth. That’ll sting the Chilean badly, given how hard he had to work to win set four. Meantime, Bronzetti has made 15-40, securing two points! Here they come…
Ach, Bronzetti overhits a forehand that means she’s down 15-30, and when she misses her first serve, the pressure intensifies. Can she shut it out? Well Andreeva plays a terrific point, finishing with an overhead that, a little spooked by earlier failures, she ends up faking and instead pats away, then Bronzetti nets a forehand and there’s the break back. I couldn’t say with any certainty that she got tight, but I’m surer Andreeva found something extra when she needed it, which is one of the major differences between the best and the rest.
On No 1, Bronzetti is playing beautifully, but how are her nerves? Andreeva has just held, so she’ll need to hold to force a deciding set.
I’m watching: Evans 2-3 Djokovic, Andreeva 6-1 2-5 Bronzetti, Garin 6-3 3-6 6-7 6-4 0-0 Rinderknech and Volynets 0-6 4-3 Cocciaretto.
Thanks Katy and hi everyone. There’s so much going on I don’t really know where to begin, but let’s get on with it.
Right, with that settled, I’m off for some lunch. Daniel Harris is here to guide you through the next couple of hours …
De Minaur beats Cazaux 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0
De Minaur has got himself three match points on No 2 Court, where he leads Cazaux 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 5-0. And the 11th seed gets the job done when Cazaux miscues a forehand. After a slow start, he was locked in, and avoids going the way of Zverev, Musetti and all the others. The Aussie fanatics are happy. And so is De Minaur, who has a winnable match against Tomas Machac or qualifier August Holmgren next.
Djokovic thunders another forehand winner or two to get himself to deuce on Evans’s serve. And here’s a first break point. Evans averts the danger, but a loopy forehand goes well long and here’s a second BP. This time Evans cuts Djokovic up with his backhand slice, before conceding a third BP. And a fourth. Evans eventually holds. But Djokovic has shown the Brit what he’s up against, as if he needed any reminder. It’s 2-2.
Some lunchtime (well, if you’re in the UK) viewing:
Despite never going beyond the third round at Wimbledon, Evans’s game is well suited to the grass, with his backhand slice that stays low, his serve and volley and his variety of pace. But he doesn’t have Djokovic’s power, and the seven-times champion comes out swinging to seize a 2-1 lead on serve.
Andreeva has the opening set 6-1 against Bronzetti. Dimitrov leads Moutet 7-5. Cocciaretto has claimed a first-set whitewash over Volynets. And the Canadian winning machine Victoria Mboko, who began the year ranked No 333 in the world but is now in the top 100 and is playing here as a lucky loser, has an early break against the American Hailey Baptiste, leading 2-0.
Evans has had an emotional summer so far, beating two top-20 players in Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, as the world No 154 bids to regain his best form at the age of 35. Djokovic, of course, at 38 is raging against the dying of the light too, and sees Wimbledon as his best chance to claim that elusive record-breaking grand slam No 25, having won No 24 two years ago. Djokovic credited a doctor’s “miracle pills” for helping him get through his first-round match when he was struggling with stomach problem, so let’s see what kind of condition he’s in today.
Here comes Dan Evans, as the rejuvenated Brit gets the Centre Court billing he so wanted against Novak Djokovic … a man he actually has a winning record against and has never lost to, which is something even Federer, Nadal and Murray can’t boast. Looking closer, they’ve only played each other once before, on the clay of Monte Carlo four years ago.
Alex de Minaur has come back brilliantly in his match against the French qualifier Arthur Cazaux. Having lost the first set 6-4, Demon has won the next two 6-2, 6-4.
One of the seed slayers, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the Italian who took out the third seed Jessica Pegula in the first round, is out on Court 16. She’s facing the aptly named Katie Volynets (geddit?), who defeated Tatjana Maria, the 37-year-old former semi-finalist who had that fairytale run at Queen’s a couple of weeks ago. Cocciaretto is charging ahead and leads 4-0 in the opening set.
It’s show time on the show courts, with the Russian wonderkid Mirra Andreeva, already seeded seventh at the precocious age of 18, taking on Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti on No 1 Court. Andreeva stirs memories of Martina Hingis with her natural talent, high tennis IQ and varied all-court game – but she’s got more power than the 1997 runner-up, and she demonstrates that as she thunders to a 3-0 lead. Shortly on Centre Court it’ll be Novak Djokovic v Dan Evans.
