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Wimbledon day three: Five Britons eliminated amid protestor disruption

Wimbledon day three: Five Britons eliminated amid protestor disruption
© Reuters
Katie Boulter, Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek are among the big winners on day three of Wimbledon, which is overshadowed by two separate Just Stop Oil protests.

Katie Boulter, Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek were among the big winners on day three of Wimbledon, which was overshadowed by two separate disturbances by Just Stop Oil protestors.

Boulter's resumed first-round match with Australia's Daria Saville - which was one of many suspended on Tuesday due to rain - was one of the contests halted by the interferences, as a man ran onto the court and threw orange confetti onto the grass.

At the time, Boulter was 4-2 down in the first set tie-breaker, but the British number one managed to shrug off the disruption to prevail 7-6[4] 6-2, hitting 40 winners compared to just 10 for Saville.

Prior to the second Court 18 incident, Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro's match in the same arena was also targeted by two protestors, who also sprayed confetti and jigsaw pieces - from a Wimbledon Centre Court puzzle - onto the court.

Dimitrov was a set and a break up at the time, but the Bulgarian was also largely unaffected by the delay and posted an emphatic 6-1 6-2 6-1 victory to reach the second round, but four Britons were eliminated at the first hurdle.

Jodie Burrage reacts at Wimbledon on July 5, 2023© Reuters

George Loffhagen had given Holger Rune a good run for his money in their opening set, but the Dane's quality eventually shone through in a 7-6[4] 6-3 6-2 win, while third seed Daniil Medvedev triumphed 7-5 6-4 6-3 over Arthur Fery.

In the women's first round, Heather Watson was no match for 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova, who sealed a 6-2 7-5 success in 99 minutes, while Eastbourne champion Madison Keys strolled past Sonay Kartal 6-0 6-3.

Elsewhere in Wednesday's restarted first-round affairs, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem played out a five-set spectacular on Court Two, and the former came up trumps 3-6 7-6[1] 6-2 6-7[5] 7-6[8] in a captivating battle.

Eighth seed Maria Sakkari was the victim of a shock defeat, though, serving a bagel in her opening set with Marta Kostyuk but suffering a calamitous collapse in a 6-0 5-7 2-6 defeat, while two-time champion Petra Kvitova overcame Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-4 6-7[5] 6-1.

With a plethora of first-round matches needing to be completed, only four second-round contests were played out on Wednesday, although one of them saw Jodie Burrage's SW19 run come to a swift end.

Novak Djokovic in action at Wimbledon on July 3, 2023© Reuters

The 24-year-old had overcome Caty McNally in round one for her first-ever Grand Slam win, but she was comfortably beaten 6-2 6-0 by Russia's Daria Kasatkina in exactly one hour.

Sara Sorribes Tormo also won just two games in her second-round exit to Swiatek, who also recorded a bagel in a straightforward 6-0 6-2 win to move into the third round.

Meanwhile, Djokovic's quest for a fifth successive Wimbledon title gathered pace with a 6-3 7-6[4] 7-5 win over Australia's Jordan Thompson, who posted a stunning 21 aces but did not bring up a single opportunity to break the defending champion.

Finally, eighth seed Jannik Sinner underlined his credentials during the night session, finding a ruthless streak from the second set onwards to see off Diego Schwartzman 7-5 6-1 6-2.

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