Updated at 23.18
LIAM BROADY’S impressive Wimbledon journey is over after he was beaten in the third round by Denis Shapovalov.
The British number five enjoyed a dream Centre Court victory over fourth seed Casper Ruud on Thursday but he was unable to produce another shock, going down 4-6 6-2 7-5 7-5.
The defeat ended British interest in the men’s singles as Broady followed Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie out on a chastening afternoon for the male home players.
He will perhaps have some regrets as he served to go two sets to one up against Shapovalov, but will leave the tournament feeling proud of his efforts as the British man who got the furthest.
He matched his best performance at a grand slam and the £131,000 payday and rankings boost will make a tangible difference to his career, starting with the prospect of him making the US Open main draw next month.
There were questions over how he would pull up after Thursday’s five-setter, and with Shapovalov also playing on Thursday both men made an inauspicious start as there were four breaks of serve by the time it got to 3-3.
Broady began to find his rhythm against the below-par Canadian and pounced at 4-5, breaking for the third time to take the first set.
It was a typically erratic performance from the 26th seed, one moment ripping an unplayable one-handed backhand, the next missing an open-court volley but he managed get two breaks in the second set to level things up.
Helped by some more wayward Shapovalov hitting the Briton manoeuvred himself into a commanding position in the third set and he served for it at 5-3.
But the Canadian regained his level and reeled off four successive games to take a set that looked to have gone.
To his credit, Broady stuck with it in the fourth set, but Shapovalov struck at 5-5 and then served it out to end British hopes for another year, with all three men going out within an hour and a half of each other.
Elsewhere, Carlos Alcaraz moved a step closer to a potential Wimbledon title showdown with Novak Djokovic as two-time champion Murray hinted his All England Club days may be numbered after suffering a heartbreaking defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
World number one Alcaraz defeated 84th-ranked Alexandre Muller of France 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
“This was my second match on Centre Court. I lost here last year, so I’m happy to win on this beautiful court,” said 20-year-old US Open champion Alcaraz.
Despite the victory, 41 unforced errors will be of concern to the Spaniard, who was playing his second-round match a day later than scheduled due to the heavy rain earlier in the week.
Alcaraz will face Chile’s Nicolas Jarry for a spot in the last 16.
Murray admitted he doesn’t know if he will be back at Wimbledon after going down 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (2/7), 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 to fifth-ranked Tsitsipas in a four-hour 40-minute epic.
The 36-year-old has not made the second week of a Grand Slam since reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2017.
“I don’t know,” said former world number one Murray when asked if he would be back in 2024.
“Motivation is obviously a big thing. Continuing having early losses in tournaments like this don’t necessarily help with that.”
Tsitispas fired 90 winners past Murray and goes on to face Laslo Djere of Serbia for a place in the last 16.
“It’s never easy against Andy. Everyone loves him here,” said the 24-year-old Greek.
Murray had been ahead when the match was halted on Thursday due to a local 11:00 pm tournament curfew.
However, he was unable to maintain the momentum on Friday despite not dropping serve in the match until the third game of the decider.
- 38-point tie-break -
Men’s third seed Daniil Medvedev returned to complete his second-round clash against Adrian Mannarino, the Frenchman who defeated him at Wimbledon five years ago.
The mercurial Russian was two sets and 4-4 ahead when play was halted on day four but quickly wrapped up victory in a third set tie-break.
Danish sixth seed Holger Rune reached the third round for the first time, brushing aside Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.
Seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russian and Italian eighth-seed made the last 16 with wins over David Goffin and Quentin Halys respectively.
World number one Iga Swiatek, the US Open and French Open champion, went through to the last 16 with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Petra Martic and next faces 14th-ranked Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
Victory in that clash will give the 22-year-old Pole a place in the quarter-finals for the first time.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a set down to beat Varvara Gracheva, who recently switched nationality from Russia to France, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Victoria Azarenka, twice a semi-finalist, made the last 16 when she brushed aside Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.
She will face Elina Svitolina who will again refuse to shake hands with her Belarusian rival in protest at the country’s support of Russia in the invasion of Ukraine.
“For me it’s a big motivation and for my country as well. A lot of Ukrainians will be watching, will be supporting me. I will go out there and put the fighting spirit on,” said Svitolina.
Fellow Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko triumphed in the longest-ever tiebreak in a Grand Slam women’s singles match.
The deciding breaker stretched to a record 38 points as the 34-year-old defeated Ana Bogdan 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (20/18) having saved five match points and converting a seventh match point of her own.
Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu came back from 2-5 down in the final set to defeat Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10/7). The Canadian will face last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur.
Finally, Novak Djokovic reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the 15th time with a straight-sets defeat of old rival Stan Wawrinka.
Djokovic, chasing a record-equalling eighth title at the All England Club and 24th career Grand Slam crown, came through 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) against the 38-year-old Wawrinka.
World number two Djokovic will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz who he has defeated five times in as many meetings for a place in the quarter-finals.
Friday’s win was Djokovic’s 21st in 27 meetings with Wawrinka, a three-time major champion who had famously defeated the Serb in the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open finals.
Djokovic never faced a break point under the Centre Court roof and completed victory just 15 minutes before the 11pm All England Club curfew kicked in.
Additional reporting by Press Association
