IGA SWIATEK EASED through at Wimbledon on Wednesday while Novak Djokovic prepared to take another step towards a record-equalling eighth men’s title as the All England Club reeled from rain delays and climate protests.
World number two Djokovic will claim a 350th Grand Slam match win if he defeats Australia’s Jordan Thompson on Centre Court.
Only the retired Roger Federer, an eight-time Wimbledon champion, and Serena Williams, have won more matches at the majors.
The 36-year-old Djokovic is also chasing a 24th career Grand Slam title, which would take him level with Margaret Court’s all-time record.
However, he will not underestimate the 70th-ranked Thompson, who reached the final of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch grass-court event last month.
Djokovic swept past Pedro Cachin in the first round on Monday on a damp Centre Court surface, jokingly attempting to mop up excess moisture with a towel at one stage.
The unseasonable cold and wet have given officials a scheduling headache.
Tuesday’s torrential downpours meant only one hour’s play was possible on the outside courts and just eight matches completed.
In all, 87 ties were on Wednesday’s menu, but rain again played spoilsport, with the start delayed by 90 minutes.
Eventually 14 matches were pushed back to Thursday.
Once play got underway, two climate protesters from the Just Stop Oil environmental activist group ran onto Court 18, one of the showpiece arenas, to scatter orange confetti and jigsaw pieces during Grigor Dimitrov’s match against Sho Shimabukuro.
The two, both in their 60s, were removed by security staff.
“Following an incident on Court 18, two individuals have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage and these individuals have now been removed from the grounds,” said a Wimbledon spokesman.
Just hours later, the match between Katie Boulter and Daria Saville on the same court was held up when another protestor repeated the confetti-jigsaw gesture to jeers from frustrated fans.
Women’s top seed Swiatek beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-0 to cruise into the third round.
The reigning US Open and French Open champion has never been beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon but has dropped just six games so far in this year’s tournament.
World number three Daniil Medvedev marked his return to Wimbledon after last year’s ban on Russian players with a first-round win.
Former US Open champion Medvedev defeated French-born British wild card Arthur Fery 7-5, 6-4, 6-3.
In 2022, the All England Club banned all Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
US ninth seed Taylor Fritz saw off Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann in five sets in a match which had started on Monday.
Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk clinched the day’s first shock by coming back to down Greek eighth seed Maria Sakkari 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 in a first round tie twice interrupted for the rain.
Men’s 10th seed Frances Tiafoe, who made the last 16 in 2022, saw off China’s Wu Yibing in straight sets.
Wu needed a medical time out at the end of the first set after falling ill but still pushed his American opponent with some impressive shot-making.
“Am I playing Superman right now?” asked a bemused Tiafoe.
Later Wednesday, Petra Kvitova, widely seen as a contender for a third women’s title, begins her campaign against Jasmine Paolini.
The veteran Czech defeated the 44th-ranked Italian at the same stage in 2022 and arrives at the All England Club fresh from winning her sixth career grass-court title in Berlin.
Kvitova’s compatriot, Karolina Pliskova, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, tackles Serbia’s Natalija Stevanovic, ranked at a lowly 225.
After falling in qualifying 10 times at the Slams, Stevanovic is finally making her Grand Slam main draw debut at the age of 28.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray will take on fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Centre Court on Thursday after the fifth seed came through a five-set battle against Dominic Thiem.
A match that started at 11am on Tuesday finally finished just before 8pm on Wednesday with Tsitsipas claiming a 3-6 7-6 (1) 6-2 6-7 (5) 7-6 (8) victory after three hours and 56 minutes of on-court action.
That will certainly have done Murray’s chances no harm given the two-time former champion was able to relax on Wednesday having wrapped up an easy win over Ryan Peniston under the roof 24 hours previously.
Holger Rune, the world number six, is back on court to complete his first round clash with Britain’s George Loffhagen.
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