Tennis: Tennis-Wimbledon fans face welcome dilemma as stage set for Battle of Britain

LONDON (Reuters) – Fans flocking to Wimbledon’s Court One on Thursday will face a welcome dilemma in what promises to be a bumper day for the home nation as new British number one Jack Draper takes on Cameron Norrie, while Katie Boulter faces Harriet Dart.

Add in that 277th-ranked wildcard Jacob Fearnley will also be out on the biggest stage he has ever played on when he comes up against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round on Centre Court, and British fans will have plenty to cheer – or groan – about on the fourth day of the championships.

“It’s going to be a little bit intimidating but it’s a match that I’m super-excited for,” said Fearnley, who is no stranger to exchanging shots with the greats of the sport having hit with Roger Federer while playing in the Wimbledon juniors in 2018.

“It’s the biggest match of my career so far. Just to be able to share the court with a player like that will be really special.”

As Scottish great Andy Murray exits stage left, with his hopes of competing in the Wimbledon singles draw one last time scuppered by a back injury, Fearnley is hoping to keep the Saltire flying at the All England Club.

The 22-year-old has made great strides in recent weeks, shooting up the rankings by more than 200 spots within a few weeks after winning his first singles ATP Challenger title at the Nottingham Open as a qualifier before beating Alejandro Moro Canas at Wimbledon for his debut win at a major.

Asked how he plans to beat 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, who dropped just five games in his opening match despite undergoing surgery on a torn medial meniscus just a month ago, Fearnley was rather pragmatic: “I don’t think many people have the answer to that. I have no idea.

“I don’t think there’s many tactics going into the match.”

Tactics are unlikely to be in short supply when Draper, who won his first ATP title less than three weeks ago in Stuttgart, takes on his predecessor as British number one.

Norrie won both of their previous two meetings in straight sets and will be eager to complete a hat-trick of victories.

Boulter and Dart are the only two home hopes left in the top half of the women’s singles draw.

They will be extremely familiar with each other’s game with their WTA Tour rivalry dating back to 2016. The 32nd seeded Boulter will fancy her chances of advancing to the third round for a third successive year considering she has beaten Dart in six of their seven meetings.

Also in action will be women’s top seed Iga Swiatek against Croatian challenger Petra Martic on Centre Court, while Ons Jabeur, the runner-up here for the past two years, will face Robin Montgomery.

In the men’s draw, fourth seed Alexander Zverev will be looking to navigate past American Marcos Giron.

(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Hugh Lawson)