Your Wimbledon day five guide as Djokovic gets wish and Serena doubts spread | Tennis | Sport

It’s time for day five at Wimbledon as we enter the third-round stage at SW19. Yesterday saw three of the four remaining British players sent home while Princess Kate made a welcome appearance at the All England Club to take in the tennis. And today the schedule is a bit more exciting as we return to the significantly more stacked side of the men’s and women’s draws.

Express Sport brings you all you need to know for Friday, July 3 at the All England Club…

Novak Djokovic has been granted his wish, and will play in the daytime without the need for the Centre Court roof to be closed. He said after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas: “Overall, nice to be playing another indoor Wimbledon match I guess. I’m looking forward to an outdoor hopefully next round!”

Before adding in his post-match press conference: “It’s just my desire. I’d love to play outdoor Wimbledon grass court match. Haven’t had a chance so far. So let’s see.” And the organisers have obliged.

So will Djokovic produce a performance as vintage, and emphatic, as he did to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets? Interestingly, this is the first time he and his French opponent Arthur Rinderknech have ever gone head-to-head.

If Novak wins, the Serb will set the scene for an absorbing showdown with Joao Fonseca, the man who dumped him out of the French Open. Yes please.

Serena: Will she? Won’t she?

Serena Williams lost to Maya Joint on her singles comeback and now she’s due to team up with her sister Venus for the women’s doubles. They are scheduled to face Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio in an exciting match-up. It was initially a match expected to take place today but it’s been pushed back to tomorrow to give Serena more time to prove her fitness.

The 44-year-old suffered a knee injury in her two-and-a-half-hour battle with Joint. It would be glorious to have the legendary American siblings, who have won 14 doubles Grand Slam titles together, including Wimbledon six times, back on court together. Let’s hope the extra recovery time ensures we do.

The two top seeds, and title favourites, are back in action this afternoon. Jannik Sinner is a heavy favourite against Jenson Brooksby on Court 1 while Aryna Sabalenka takes on Jelena Ostapenko, a former French Open winner and Wimbledon semi-finalist. That one is a bit more up for grabs after Ostapenko won their last meeting, the final in Stuttgart last year.

It is rather ominous for American Brooksby though that the world No.1 Sinner said pre-match: “It’s going to be a very tough match. I’m looking forward to it. I’m happy to face him.” Defending champion Sinner has only dropped five sets across his last eight matches at Wimbledon.

But Brooksby’s fellow American Taylor Fritz said yesterday: “He’s a very, like, unorthodox player. The match [we played] in Tokyo, I was really impressed with just, like, his level. I felt like he was doing an unbelievable job of handling my pace.

“I was striking the ball really well, which is something that he’s going to see against [Jannik] Sinner, just like big ball striking. I think if he handles it the way he was dealing with what I was doing in Tokyo, then I think from the ground it will actually be interesting. We’ll have to see.

“I don’t know how much the grass is helping his serve, but I think that’s going to be where the match is won or lost. Jannik has improved his serve so much over the last couple of years. He’s a very, very good server. Now it’s going to be tough to break him.” It would be an almighty upset the world No.81 were to win.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Friday’s play is what it could mean for Sunday. If they all win, we’ll be treated to Djokovic vs Fonseca, Sinner vs Rafael Jodar, Sabalenka vs Naomi Osaka and Belinda Bencic vs Coco Gauff.

That is an absolutely blockbuster day of tennis. And not to mention it’s the same day as the British Grand Prix and Mexico vs England in the World Cup round of 16. Now that’s a day of sport.

Our five must-watch matches today

[11] Belinda Bencic vs Anna Kalinskaya [19]

Aryna Sabalenka [1] vs Jelena Ostapenko

[25] Arthur Rinderknech vs Novak Djokovic [7]

Roman Safiullin vs Joao Fonseca [24]

Hubert Hurkacz vs Tommy Paul [21]

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