What to look out for on Day 3 of The Championships
Tarvet was just part of a record-breaking posse of Britons who won on the opening day, and after magic Monday, the magnificent seven ride again today, still dreaming of a wondrous Wednesday.
None more so than Arthur Fery, the local Wimbledon lad who remembers being bussed to the All England Club after school, armed with a grounds pass and wide eyes as he took in a bit of the John Isner-Nicols Mahut 11-hour epic.
Now wild card Fery is writing the unlikely script on the courts where he used to be a spectator. After beating the No.20 seed, Alexei Popyrin, in his opener, Italy’s Luciano Darderi is now in his sights.
Another Briton, Sonay Kartal, also knocked out the No.20 seed, the always combative Jelena Ostapenko, in the ladies’ draw – another striking win to demonstrate why it’s not just going to be a straight battle between Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter to be Britain’s leading woman player.
ARTHUR FERY
Kartal will fancy her chances of a second successive visit to the last-32 here by defeating Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova, who had to endure less than an hour and a half in Monday’s heat in the first round before her opponent, Ons Jabeur, had to retire unwell.
It was sad to see Tunisia’s ‘Minister of Happiness’ Jabeur crying again. The last time we’d witnessed this was in the 2023 final after she had lost to surprise new champion Marketa Vondrousova, who could induce more Centre Court tears by defeating Raducanu.
This looks a really absorbing contest, a repeat of their battle four years ago when the young comet Raducanu was on her way to really introducing herself here with a victory over the Czech. “One of the best matches I’ve played,” reflects Emma
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So much has happened to them since, from the highs of Grand Slam triumphs to real lows with injury interruptions, that there’s a real parallel between their careers.
Only Vondrousova doesn’t envy her rival. “She’s had the pressure way worse than me, crazy pressure. I feel like she has it in every tournament all the time.”
Boulter, meanwhile, rated her victory over No.9 seed Paula Badosa in the opening round as being perhaps the most significant yet in her career and she will be seeking to consolidate with a second round triumph over Solana Sierra, an Argentine who was knocked out in Qualifying but has made the best of a ‘lucky loser’ reprieve.
Cameron Norrie, our gloriously cosmopolitan South African-born, New Zealand-raised, US-educated globetrotter, knows when he’s really at home
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“On Court 18, absolutely full, people watching on the balconies, I was just thinking, ‘it’s absolutely boiling here in Wimbledon, everyone is here supporting, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else’,” he said after being cheered to victory against Roberto Bautista Agut.
He wants to hear the acclaim again today on his favourite No.1 Court as he enjoys another belter with American No.12 seed Frances Tiafoe, still one of the most exciting players in the game and who has a special reason to want to enjoy his best run this year.
It’s the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ashe winning his landmark Wimbledon. “No added pressure or anything, but this one would be incredible to win for that reason,” says the pioneering Tiafoe, the son of Sierra Leonean immigrants who has always acknowledged the importance of the late, great trailblazer.
source: https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2025-07-02/2025-07-01_the_preview_day_3.html