Wwelcome to the coverage of day five of Wimbledon as we get closer to the middle of the tournament and the number of players remaining in the event continues to decline.
Thursday was another dramatic day as Katie Boulter took the biggest win of her career when she defeated Karolína Pliskova. Boulter, in 118th place in the world rankings, knocked out the Czech sixth seed 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 and said in her on-court interview that her grandmother had passed away earlier this week, marking her victory. dedicated to her.
“Her favorite tournament was Wimbledon,” Boulter told reporters. “That’s why it’s a special one for me. She would watch every game that was on the TV. It’s been a rough few days for sure. I’ve tried to get my emotions out and deal with the situation, try and keep my head at tennis.
“I was lucky because my grandfather managed to get out of Leicester so we could keep him company and support him at the same time.”
Boulter, who has reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, will then take on the French Harmony Tan. Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal and Coco Gauff secured their places in round three and look set for deep runs in the tournament.
Today the focus shifts again to world number 1 Novak Djokovic, who will compete against his Serbian compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic. Briton Heather Watson opens the field at Center Court in a winable match against Kaja Juvan at number 1 Court.
“I’m pretty relaxed about it now,” Watson said. “I’ve been here before. I just take it step by step, game by game. I feel like as I got older I’ve been on tour for many years, my highs aren’t that high, but my lows aren’t so low.”