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.
Britain’s most notorious gangster and the detective who pursued him have been involved in a bizarre confrontation…at a charity lunch.
Former Detective Superintendent Ian Brown was at a Kent golf club and about to give a talk on the infamous £26m Brink’s-Mat gold robbery when he was summoned from the stage by officials.
Mr Brown, who appeared on the award-winning Sky News StoryCast podcast The Hunt For The Brink’s-Mat Gold in 2019, said: “I go outside and they say ‘he’s here’ and I say ‘who’s here’ and they say that table over there in the corner, that’s Kenny Noye with a baseball cap pulled down over his head.”
Noye stabbed to death an undercover policeman during the Brink’s-Mat investigation, but was acquitted of murder, though he was jailed for handling the stolen gold.
Mr Brown, 86, said: “I went over to him and said ‘thanks for coming, nice of you to pop in’, but I don’t believe you’ve turned up with your sons and grandkids to listen to me telling how you killed a police officer.
“And he said ‘I want to make sure you don’t say I’ve been dealing drugs’ and I said ‘I’ve never said that Kenny’.”
The retired detective told Noye he wasn’t going to change his presentation just because he was there.
“He said ‘mate, I wouldn’t expect you to and I’ll come up [on stage] if you want me to’.
“Can you think how he’s turned up with his family to listen to somebody talking about you killing the police? Now, you put logic on that.”
The bizarre story emerged when I rang Mr Brown after I’d been told about the meeting.
Image: A Sky News podcast told the story of the Brink’s-Mat heist in 2019
I also wanted to ask him about the recent BBC hit drama series The Gold which retold the story of the Brink’s-Mat heist at Heathrow Airport in 1983.
“It was an absolute shambles, far too much dramatic licence and the real story was so much better,” said the ex-detective, whose job had been to follow the trail of the 6,800 gold bars to the US and the Caribbean.
He said he chatted to one of the show’s writers for a long time in a phone call but then heard no more.
“They invented people, changed a bit here and there and made it politically correct in so many ways. I’m just very sad that that is what people will believe.
“And I couldn’t work out who my character was supposed to be. I could have been one of the female cops.”
He also criticised the portrayal of Noye, now 78, as a likeable jack-the-lad character when the truth about the double killer with a volatile temper was quite different.
Oasis have reunited on stage for the first time in almost 16 years – with brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher sharing a high five and the briefest of hugs as they closed a performance that for fans was more than worth the wait.
After the split in 2009, for many years Noel said he would never go back – and for a long time, as the brothers exchanged insults through separate interviews (and on social media, for Liam), it seemed pretty unlikely to ever happen.
But now, here they are. As they walked out on stage at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, all eyes were on the Gallaghers for a sense of their relationship – dare we say it, friendship? – now after all these years.
There was no reference to their fall-out or making up, but the gestures were there – lifting hands together as they walked out for the first time.
Image: The headline “OASIS REUNITED” was shown on stage at the gig. Pic: PA
Image: Fans at the Oasis gig. Pic: PA
Headlines and tweets of speculation and then confirmation of the reunion filled the screens as the show started. “This is happening,” said one, repeatedly.
In the end, it was all about the music.
Liam has received criticism in the past for his voice not being what it once was during his solo or Beady Eye performances, but back on stage with his brother tonight he delivered exactly what fans would have hoped for – a raw, steely-eyed performance, snarling vocals, and the swagger that makes him arguably the greatest frontman of his day.
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This was Oasis sounding almost as good as they ever have.
Image: Fans sang along and held up their phones to film as Oasis performed. Pic: PA
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2:56
Oasis: ‘It’s good to be back’
They opened with Hello, because of course, “it’s good to be back”. And then Acquiesce, and those lyrics: “Because we need each other/ We believe in one another.”
The song is said to be about friendship in the wider sense, rather than their brotherly bond and sibling rivalry, but you can’t help but feel like it means something here.
Over two hours, they played favourite after favourite – including Morning Glory, Some Might Say, Cigarettes & Alcohol, Supersonic and Roll With It.
Image: Liam Gallagher as Oasis takes to the stage in Cardiff. Pic: PA
In the mid-section, Liam takes his break for Noel to sing Talk Tonight, Half The World Away and Little By Little; the tempo slows but there is by no means a lull, with the fans singing all his words back to him.
Liam returns for hits including Stand By Me, Slide Away, Whatever and Live Forever, before sending the crowd wild (or even wilder) with Rock And Roll Star.
Image: Noel Gallagher performing on stage. Pic: PA
Image: An Oasis fan is pointing at the stage during the gig. Pic: PA
When the reunion announcement was made last summer, it quickly became overshadowed by the controversy of dynamic pricing causing prices to rocket. As he has done on X before, Liam addressed the issue on stage with a joke.
“Was it worth the £4,000 you paid for the ticket?” he shouted at one point. “Yeah,” the crowd shouts back; seemingly all is forgiven.
After Rock And Roll Star, the dream that very quickly became a reality for this band, Noel introduced the rest of the group, calling Bonehead a “legend”.
Image: Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs of Oasis. Pic: PA
Image: Liam Gallagher carried a tambourine in his mouth during the concert. Pic: PA
Then he acknowledges all their young fans, some who maybe weren’t even born when they split. “This one is for all the people in their 20s who’ve never seen us before, who’ve kept this shit going,” he says before the encore starts with The Masterplan.
Noel follows with Don’t Look Back In Anger, and the screens fill with Manchester bees in reference to the arena bombing and how the song became the sound of hope and defiance for the city afterwards.
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1:31
‘I’d have paid £10,000 to see them’
Image: Two fans sat on their friends’ shoulders as Oasis performed. Pic: PA
During Wonderwall, there’s a nice touch as Liam sings to the crowd: “There are many things I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh.”
It is at the end of Champagne Supernova, which closes the set, that it happens; Noel puts down his guitar, and they come together for a high-five and a back-slap, a blink-and-you’d miss it hug.
“Right then, beautiful people, this is it,” Liam had told the crowd as he introduced the song just a few minutes earlier. “Nice one for putting up with us over the years.”
From the roar of the audience, it’s safe to say most people here would agree it’s been worth it.
Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has been charged with five counts of rape.
The 32-year-old has also been charged with one count of sexual assault.
Two of the counts of rape relate to one woman, three counts relate to a second woman, and the one count of sexual assault relates to a third woman.
The incidents are alleged to have taken place between 2021 and 2022.
Metropolitan Police said he is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 5 August.
“The charges follow an investigation by detectives, which commenced in February 2022 after police first received a report of rape,” the force said.
Partey has just left Arsenal after his contract expired and was said to be attracting interest from clubs including Juventus, Barcelona and Fenerbahce.
The Ghanaian player was at the Emirates for five years after signing from Atletico Madrid and has also played dozens of times for his country.
His time with Arsenal was marked by recurring injuries but he played 130 times for the club in the Premier League, including 35 times last season when he scored four goals.
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said: “Our priority remains providing support to the women who have come forward.”
Anyone who has information about the case, or has been impacted by it, is being asked to contact the Met Police.