Sunday, December 22, 2024

Wimbledon day six: Andy Murray teams up with Emma Raducanu for possible farewell

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Andy Murray could play his final match at Wimbledon on Saturday when he teams up with Emma Raducanu in the mixed doubles.

Murray, two days after his emotional celebration ceremony on Centre Court, will return with Raducanu as the last match on Court One.

Elsewhere, Harriet Dart and Cameron Norrie will look to join Raducanu in the fourth round of the singles while Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur are among the big names in action.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what to expect on day six.

Match of the day

Andy Murray departed Centre Court on Thursday – and will be on Court One on Saturday (John Walton/PA)

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu provide a dream pairing for British tennis fans.

The UK’s only grand slam singles champions of the millennium will team up against El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo – the world number seven doubles player – and China’s Zhang Shuai.

And the match could prove to be the final Wimbledon match of two-time singles champion Murray’s career, as he plans to stop playing after this summer’s Olympics.

Raducanu has a singles run to concentrate on but she cannot wait to team up with one of her childhood inspirations.

“It’s just an amazing opportunity to be able to play with him. It’s something that I’m going to cherish,” she said.

Dart’s date with destiny

Harriet Dart celebrate sher victory over Katie Boulter
Harriet Dart enjoyed a huge victory over British rival Katie Boulter (John Walton/PA)

Harriet Dart is looking to reach the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time.

After coming through her emotional clash with British rival Katie Boulter, the 27-year-old world number 100 will face unseeded Chinese player Wang Xinyu in the first match up on Court Two at 11am.

Dart is ranked 58 places below Wang but did win their only previous match in Australian Open qualifying two years ago.

“I wasn’t really expecting too much coming into Wimbledon this year. But it means more than anything for me to be sitting here and getting ready to compete in the third round,” Dart said.

Norrie rolls clock back to 2022

Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie has found form (John Walton/PA)

Cameron Norrie carries home hopes in the men’s singles for the second time in three years.

Norrie returned to the sort of form that carried him to the semi-finals at the All England Club in 2019 when he beat British number one Jack Draper on Thursday.

He will be the underdog once again when he meets Alexander Zverev – who has won all five of their meetings, including a five-set classic at the Australian Open in January.

Norrie said: “I’ve never beaten him before, so I think it’s a really tough, tough draw for me. But I’m excited to be through and excited to play against another top player and test myself in five sets.”

Euros distraction

People in the queue watching England's Euro 2024 game
People in the queue watching England’s Euro 2024 game (Mike Egerton/PA)

Euro 2024 is rarely far from discussion around the All England Club and organisers will likely have to deal with fans on the Hill following England’s quarter-final on their phones come 5pm.

Raducanu is hopeful her match does not clash with the game against Switzerland, while Tunisian Ons Jabeur had hoped the scheduling would allow her to watch the tie after enjoying the “unbelievable” Jude Bellingham-inspired comeback against Slovenia.

The football even got in the way of Carlos Alcaraz’s press commitments after the Spaniard’s epic five-set win over Frances Tiafoe on Friday.

He delayed his press conference shortly after Germany scored to take the tie to extra-time before arriving quickly after Spain’s late winner.

Order of play

Ons Jabeur waves to the crowd
Ons Jabeur is on Centre Court (John Walton/PA)

Centre Court from 1.30pm:

Cameron Norrie v Alexander Zverev (4)
Ons Jabeur (10) v Elina Svitolina (21)
Novak Djokovic (2) v Alexei Popyrin

Court One from 1pm:

Ben Shelton (14) v Denis Shapovalov (to a finish)
Iga Swiatek (1) v Yelena Putintseva
Elena Rybakina (4) v Caroline Wozniacki
Andy Murray/Emma Raducanu v Marcelo Arevalo/Zhang Shuai

Weather

Light showers changing to cloudy by lunchtime, with highs of 18, according to the Met Office.

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