A record number of British singles tennis players advanced past day one of this year’s Wimbledon.
Now four days into the Grand Slam tournament, how is the home-grown talent faring in SW19?
Who is still in?
Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie has already booked his place in the third round of Wimbledon after knocking out 12th seed Frances Tiafoe.
The former British number one came close to dropping out of the top 100 earlier this season but entered SW19 ranked 61 in the world.
And not being in the top 10 has meant Norrie is enjoying tennis “more than ever”.
He said: “I think it’s a good thing to go through being injured, not winning, then having resilience to back yourself. I’m enjoying my tennis more than ever. It was really nice coming up to get into the top 10 but it’s just tough, really tough, to stay there.”
Norrie plays Mattia Bellucci in the third round on Friday.
Emma Raducanu
Image: Emma Raducanu celebrates winning against Marketa Vondrousova. Pic: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images
The current British women’s No 1 has started her Wimbledon campaign strong, defeating former champion Marketa Vondrousova to reach the third round.
Emma Raducanu was left grinning after the 6-3 6-3 win that has set up what is due to be a blockbuster third-round clash with world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Friday.
Speaking ahead of the third round, the 22-year-old said: “I’m just so happy I get to play another match here. [Sabalenka] is number one in the world, so dominant, has won literally everything.
“I’m just so happy how I performed. I guess there’s no pressure at all on me.”
Sonay Kartal
Image: Britain’s Sonay Kartal in action. Pic: Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Sonay Kartal appears to be in with a good chance of making the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time as she takes on qualifier Diane Parry next at Wimbledon.
The 23-year-old followed up her defeat of 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko by racing to a 6-2 6-2 win over Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova to make it to the last 32.
Reflecting on her performance over Tomova, the British hopeful said she was pleased with her play.
She said: “I don’t think I did much wrong at all. I was seeing it really well. I felt confident. I feel like I was playing really aggressive tennis.”
Who has been knocked out?
Jack Draper
British hopes in the men’s draw were resting on the shoulders of world No 4 Jack Draper, but he crashed out in the second round at the hands of former finalist Marin Cilic.
Image: Jack Draper was beaten by Marin Cilic. Pic: AP
Cilic, 36, rolled back the years with a stunning performance, hitting 53 winners in a 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 victory.
The defeat will be a crushing blow for Draper, who has yet to go beyond the second round at his home grand slam.
Dan Evans
Image: Dan Evans lost out to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Pic: Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Home-grown hopeful Dan Evans was knocked out of this year’s tournament by seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
The pair battled it out on Centre Court on Thursday, with the Serb winning in straight sets.
“I knew it was going to be a special atmosphere on the court today, a Brit in Britain is never easy to face,” Djokovic said after the match.
“He’s a good quality player that possesses a lot of talent.”
Other Brits who didn’t quite make it
Qualifier Oliver Tarvet’s dream run sadly came to an end, but not after a spirited 6-1 6-4 6-4 second-round loss to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz – all while on Centre Court.
Billy Harris also fell short of the third round after losing to Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
Other players out of the men’s draw include: Jay Clarke, Johannus Monday, George Loffhagen, Henry Searle, Oliver Crawford, and Jack Pinnington Jones.
While in the women’s game, Heather Watson, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage, and Francesca Jones have been eliminated.
Also knocked out are Hannah Klugman, Mimi Xu and Mika Stojsavljevic, the three teenagers who were all handed Wimbledon wildcards for their exceptional performances.
Evans had won their only previous career meeting, in Monte Carlo four years ago.
He had arrived at this year’s Wimbledon as a wild card, ranking No 154 in the world.
Katie Boulter
Image: Katie Boulter leaves the court after defeat on day three of Wimbledon. Pic: PA
Despite expertly navigating her way into the second round of Wimbledon, Katie Boulter suffered defeat against Argentina’s Solana Sierra.
The loss means she has still never progressed beyond the third round at any of the sport’s four major tournaments. It is also the second time in a row she has not made it beyond the second round at Wimbledon
“Of course it hurts, it’s a really tough pill to swallow – it always is here,” said Boulter, who may yet end the tournament back at British number one.
Arthur Fery
Image: Arthur Fery lost out to Italy’s Luciano Darderi. Pic: Matthew Childs/Reuters
British wild card Arthur Fery was unable to mount a comeback as his second-round tie with Luciano Darderi, which started on Wednesday, resumed on Thursday on Court Two with the Italian two sets up.
Darderi took the third set to secure a 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory in two hours and 21 minutes.
A police officer has described the moment he was shot with a crossbow – as his “extremely dangerous” attacker was sentenced to nine years in jail.
Jason King, 54, fired the weapon at PC Curtis Foster after stabbing a neighbour, a man in his 60s, following an altercation in Downley, Wycombe, on 10 May last year.
PC Foster was struck in the leg by a crossbow bolt while King chased after him and his fellow unarmed officer.
Image: Jason King armed with the crossbow chases the officer. Pic: Thames Valley Police
Image: King stabbed his neighbour in the stomach following an altercation. Pic: Thames Valley Police
“I knew something had impacted me, but my adrenaline was so high that the pain wasn’t really there,” PC Foster said.
“I first realised I was bleeding quite a lot when I could feel it running down my leg, and then I touched my leg with above my trousers, and my whole hand was red where it’d gone through my trousers already.”
PC Foster and his colleague cleared the area of civilians, while armed officers chased King to a local park.
King also fired the crossbow at a police dog but missed.
He was ordered to drop the weapon, but instead started running with it in hand towards the exit of the park to where PC Foster had escaped.
An armed officer fired one shot at King, striking him in the abdomen, to stop him.
Image: PC Curtis Foster was hit in the leg by a crossbow bolt shot by King. Pic: Thames Valley Police
Image: PC Foster. Pic: Thames Valley Police
‘Covered in my blood’
As King was apprehended, paramedics and his fellow officers treated the seriously injured PC Foster.
“There was a lot of blood. My two colleagues that turned up initially on scene were covered in my blood – that’s how much blood I’d lost,” PC Foster said.
“When we got to the hospital, the doctor had a feel of it and said that I was really lucky it didn’t strike an artery. It was a couple of centimetres away from hitting an artery in the back of my leg.”
PC Foster has since made a full recovery, as did the neighbour King stabbed.
King himself was taken to hospital under police supervision with potentially life-changing injuries and was discharged 10 days later, when he was arrested and taken into police custody.
Image: King was apprehended by armed police officers in a nearby park. Pic: Thames Valley Police
On Wednesday, King was jailed at Aylesbury Crown Court for nine years with a further three years on extended licence having previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray regarding the incident.
“Jason King will now serve a substantial prison sentence as a result of his violent actions on 10 May 2024. The community and residents of Downley are much safer for it,” said senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Nick Hind.
He added: “The courage of our officers in dealing with this incident was second to none.”
DI Hind explained that the impact the incident had in the local community couldn’t be underestimated as King was “an extremely dangerous man, who posed a significant threat to police, other emergency services and members of the community”.
A mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct was made after the police shooting of King.
The IOPC, which concluded its investigation in November, commended “everybody involved in this incident”, according to DI Hind.
A mother-of-two who died after being hit by a falling tree branch on the way home from a family outing would do “everything she could for anyone”, her husband has said.
Madia Kauser, 32, was walking with her family in Witton Park in Blackburn, Lancashire, on 11 August when the incident happened.
She is reported to have pushed her young daughter to safety.
A joint investigation is being carried out by Lancashire Police and the Health and Safety Executive and any witnesses are being asked to come forward.
In a tribute issued by police, her husband Wasim Khan described her as the “most beautiful woman in the world” and said he feels “completely lost without her”.
He said: “My wife, a mother-of-two, a daughter, sister and a friend we lost to a tragic event that came on the way home from a family day out in the park.
“She was the most beautiful woman in the world, she did everything for our two children, she did everything she could for anyone and would bring smiles whenever she entered the room.
“She was my comfort, my partner in life and the love of my life.
“We have so many great memories, went through pain together and started a family together.
“Honestly, I feel completely lost without her and I do not know how to put into words how much I miss her face, her character and her presence. My one and only.”
Detective Inspector Iain Czapowski said: “This is an absolutely tragic incident which has cost a young woman her life and my thoughts are with her loved ones.
“We are working closely with our colleagues from the Health and Safety Executive and with the co-operation of the council to try and establish the full circumstances of what happened, and I would like to speak to anyone with information which could assist with that.
“I am especially keen to speak to anyone who actually saw what happened on that fateful night and I would urge them to contact us.”
A member of rap trio Kneecap was greeted by hundreds of supporters as he arrived at court this morning, charged with allegedly supporting a proscribed terror organisation.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year.
Demonstrators waving flags and holding banners in support of the rapper greeted him with cheers as he made his way into Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Image: The rapper is mobbed by fans and media as he arrives at court. Pics: PA
Supported by his Kneecap bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, it took the rapper more than a minute to enter the building as security officers worked to usher him inside through a crowd of photographers.
Fans held signs which read “Free Mo Chara”, while others waved Irish and Palestinian flags.
As the hearing got under way, O hAnnaidh confirmed his name, date of birth and address, with the court hearing an Irish language interpreter would be present.
During a previous hearing, prosecutors said the 27-year-old is “well within his rights” to voice his opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but said the alleged incident at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town was a “wholly different thing”.
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O hAnnaidh is yet to enter a plea to the charge.
Image: Bandmates Naoise O Caireallain (pictured, centre) and JJ O Dochartaigh are supporting O hAnnaidh. Pic: Reuters
Who are Kneecap?
Kneecap put out their first single in 2017 and rose to wider prominence in 2024 after the release of their debut album and an eponymously titled film – a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and their fight to save the Irish language.
The film, in which the trio play themselves and co-star alongside starring Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender, won the BAFTA for outstanding debut earlier this year, for director and writer Rich Peppiatt.