tThe round of 16 kicks off today at Wimbledon with British hopefuls looking to continue their historic tournament.
Both Heather Watson and Cameron Norrie are in action, neither of whom have ever reached this stage of the slam.
Watson, who reached the last 16 women’s doubles on Saturday with a win with partner Harriet Dart, will face Germany’s Jule Niemeier on center court from 1.30pm.
The 30-year-old has spoken about the impact the grueling schedule at Wimbledon is having on her this year. Ahead of her doubles match last night, she told the BBC: “Honestly, I’m not getting along very well anymore. I got less than four hours of sleep last night and they didn’t schedule me for the doubles tonight before 6pm. I think she trying to kill me here to be honest.”
Watson will play her 12th Wimbledon this year and will continue her impressive and groundbreaking slam this afternoon. Norrie is the other Briton in action and he heads to Court 1, expected at 2.15pm, where he will face American Tommy Paul.
To reach the last 16, he beat Paul’s compatriot Steve Johnson and said he loved every minute of it. “To be the UK number one, to play on Center Court, to be in the spotlight and to play at that level that I did was a lot of fun,” he told the BBC. “I embraced it and really enjoyed it.”
Another headline match at Center Court will see defending champion Novak Djokovic battle Dutch player Tim van Rijthoven. The Dutch player has been a breakout star throughout the tournament and will try to cause a shock when he faces the Serb later in the day.
The world number 104 was wildcarded for the event and it will be his first time playing against Djokovic. “Before the tournament started, it was a dream for me to actually play him,” he said.
And before the tournament started, he spoke of the opportunity to play on Center Court: “To be able to have that opportunity [of playing Djokovic] and maybe even playing on Center Court or Court 1 is beautiful and magical.”