By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON (Reuters) – The third round of Wimbledon continues at the All England Club on Saturday as the world’s top players battle for Grand Slam glory in London.
Seven-times champion Novak Djokovic is up against unseeded Australian Alexei Popyrin while dark horses Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev can also secure progress.
Iga Swiatek faces Kazakh Yulia Putintseva in the women’s draw while Andy Murray will be in mixed doubles action alongside fellow Briton Emma Raducanu.
Here are the latest results and highlights
TOP MEN’S MATCH: DJOKOVIC v POPYRIN
Second seed Djokovic was dragged to four sets by Popyrin at the Australian Open earlier this year and could face a potentially tricky test again when he meets the world number 47.
Much has changed for the Serb since his unsuccessful title defence at Melbourne Park in January, with a trophy drought that has stretched to seven months in an ill-fated this season.
The 37-year-old had minor knee surgery shortly after his French Open withdrawal but showed no signs of discomfort in his opening two matches, although Popyrin will sense a real chance to score a first win over him in their third meeting.
“We had a very good match in Australia. He improved his backhand a lot and his movement. That was maybe not as good in the past. He’s becoming a complete player. He’s not afraid to finish the point at the net,” Djokovic said.
“If he serves well, it’s very tough to play. Anybody on the grass that serves as good as he does … I guess one of the keys will be how good I’ll be at reading his serves and get it back in play, make him work for his points.
“I’m expecting obviously a tough challenge.”
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: JABEUR v SVITOLINA
Last year’s runner-up and Tunisian 10th seed Ons Jabeur has been given top billing for the first time and the Centre Court crowd favourite, who is looking to become the first Arab and African woman to claim a major title, will meet Elina Svitolina.
OTHER TITLE CONTENDERS
Swiatek has not lost a set so far despite grass not being her best surface and the top-seeded Pole will look to keep it that way and underline her title credentials when she meets the counter-punching Putintseva.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina, who won the 2022 trophy, will play Caroline Wozniacki on Court One where there are a number of mouthwatering matches on offer.
MURRAY IN THE MIXED
All eyes will be on Murray and Raducanu, who face Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai in what could well be the Scot’s final match at the Grand Slam.
“It’s just an amazing opportunity to be able to play with him. It’s something that I’m going to cherish,” said Raducanu.
WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON SATURDAY
Here is the order of play on the main showcourts on the sixth day of Wimbledon (prefix number denotes seeding):
CENTRE COURT (1230 GMT)
Cameron Norrie (Britain) v 4-Alexander Zverev (Germany)
10-Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) v 21-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)
Alexei Popyrin (Australia) v 2-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
COURT ONE (1200 GMT)
14-Ben Shelton (United States) v Denis Shapovalov (Canada) 3-2
1-Iga Swiatek (Poland) v Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan)
4-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) v Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark)
Marcelo Arevalo (El Salvador)/ Zhang Shuai (China) v Andy Murray (Britain)/ Emma Raducanu (Britain)
COURT TWO (1000 GMT)
Harriet Dart (Britain) v Wang Xinyu (China)
5-Daniil Medvedev (Russia) v Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) 6-1 6-3 4-6 1-1
13-Taylor Fritz (United States) v 24-Alejandro Tabilo (Chile)
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London; Editing by Alison Williams)
