Novak Djokovic will need to win three straight sets on Saturday if he’s to progress to Round 4 at Wimbledon, as his match was called off with Sam Querrey 7-6 (6), 6-1 up on the men’s champion.
Rain came at the perfect time for the top seed on Court No. 1, meaning he’ll have the chance to regroup and go again after a night’s rest. There were no such issues for Roger Federer, though, as he coasted past British player Daniel Evans in straight sets.
Serena Williams was pushed to the limit in her match against Christina McHale. The top seed came from a set down and then a break down in the decider to get past her compatriot in a thrilling contest.
In other significant news, Juan Martin del Potro secured his most memorable win in years, dumping out the two-time Grand Slam winner and fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in a brilliant match.
To access the full results and bracket, visit Wimbledon's official website.
Djokovic on the Brink, Federer Through
Djokovic was outfought in the latter stages of the opening set, as Querrey grabbed an early advantage in the tiebreak.
From there, you would anticipate a response from the top seed and reigning champion. But so uncharacteristically, he continued to be dictated to by his opponent; Querrey, to his great credit, didn't give the Serbian a sniff and surged his way to a 6-1 win in the second set.
At this juncture, Djokovic's hopes were dangling by a thread. But in a huge stroke of fortune for him, the rain came pouring down, bringing a premature end to the day's play. As noted by Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal, this is a scenario that the world No. 1 will be familiar with:
Under the Centre Court roof, Federer was able to continue his match and, for the second successive round, was in complete control against a home-nation player.
Evans was jittery early on, allowing the veteran to stamp his authority on the contest. After rattling off the opening four games of the match, the tone was set, and Federer didn't break a sweat in a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory.
In the women's draw, McHale went toe-to-toe with the champion in the opening set, forcing a tiebreak that was just as evenly contested. And eventually the underdog came through in the opener, with Williams putting a simple forehand into the net and taking her frustration out on her racket.
The reigning champion channelled her anger in the right way in the second set, pushing the match into a fascinating decider. Williams did fall a break down, but once again she clawed her way back into the contest, dragging McHale into a war of attrition and eventually serving the match out in emphatic style.
As Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times noted after the match, Williams had time to give one fan a brilliant souvenir:
It was a day to remember for Del Potro on Centre Court. The former U.S. Open champion has been struggling with injuries lately and is playing his first Grand Slam event in over two years; he proved to be too good for the fourth seed Wawrinka, though.
After losing the opening stanza, Del Potro, ranked 165th in the world at the moment, fought back brilliantly to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory. Stuart Fraser of MailOnline summed up how long a win of this magnitude had been coming for Del Potro:
Inclement weather conditions did influence play on some of the outside courts on Friday, and in Venus Williams’ match against Daria Kasatkina the rain came tumbling down at the worst possible moment, per the tournament's official Twitter feed:
The five-time Wimbledon champion did lose the point when play resumed, although she recovered to eventually win the match 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.
One of the ties of the day came between two of the biggest characters in the men’s game. Nick Kyrgios and Dustin Brown traded some extravagant shots in a fast-paced five-set match, but the class of the former eventually shone through in a 6-7 (3), 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Due to the poor weather throughout the championship, the tournament also confirmed there will be play on middle Sunday, which is traditionally a rest day for the players.