Sixth-seeded Dane Holger Rune rallied from a break of serve down in the first and third sets to secure a gritty 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-4 win over Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena to charge into the Wimbledon third round Friday.

Rune dictated play in the match with 45 winners (double that of his opponent) and 47 unforced errors and steadily improved on serve after winning just three of 12 second-serve points in the opening set.

“It wasn’t easy today; he made it very difficult,” said Rune, who won 33 of 48 net approaches. “He’s the type of player who doesn’t give you anything for free. So I had to finish the points myself and try to play good. He makes a lot balls. I managed to raise my level close to the end and I got unbelievable support from the crowd.”

The 2022 Rolex Paris Masters champion will next meet Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. The 31st seed Davidovich Fokina won his lone Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Rune earlier this year at the Mutua Madrid Open.

The 20-year-old Rune, who saved eight of 11 break points against him, has not dropped a set in advancing to the Wimbledon third round for the first time. In the opening round he defeated British wild card George Loffhagen 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2.

Rune’s deepest runs at the majors have come at Roland Garros, where he has reached the quarter-finals the past two years. During this grass season he reached the semi-finals at Queen’s (l. to De Minaur). Rune is at a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, with a chance to break into the Top 5 for the first time with a deep run at The All England Club.

In third-round action, Italian Jannik Sinner rallied to beat Quentin Halys 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. After dropping the opening set, the eighth seed lost just three points behind his first serve for the remainder of the match. A quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year, Sinner won 62 per cent of points behind his second serve, compared to the Frenchman’s 46 per cent.

The 21-year-old Sinner awaits the winner of Daniel Elahi Galan and Mikael Ymer.

Sinner has defeated Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Diego Schwartzman, and Halys to reach the fourth round of a major for the second time this season (Australian Open). 

In 2022, the seven-time tour-level titlist Sinner led Novak Djokovic two-sets-to-love in the Wimbledon quarter-finals before the Serbian mounted a comeback to win in five sets. Djokovic went on to capture his seventh Wimbledon title.

Jannik Sinner advances to the Wimbledon fourth round.” />
^{Jannik Sinner advances to the Wimbledon fourth round. Credit: Michael Regan/Getty Images}

The tennis world is remembering Barry Phillips-Moore, former player, coach and the earliest adopter of the infamous ‘spaghetti-string’ racquet, which imparted extreme spin and was ultimately banned from the sport. Phillips-Moore passed away in Adelaide on 29 June, aged 85.

A two-time semi-finalist at the Australian Championships, Phillips-Moore grew up alongside Rod Laver, but broke the mould of the typical grass-loving Australian serve/volleyers, preferring to battle from the baseline, especially on clay. He won the Auckland title in 1968.

After his playing career, Phillips-Moore coached Paul McNamee, Peter McNamara, Harold Solomon and Eddie Dibbs before turning his attention to leading a group of young talent that fell outside traditional development pathways on European adventures with the help of a trusty minivan.

One of his most famous prodigies was fellow Australian and Adelaide native Mark Woodforde, who went on to claim four singles titles and 67 doubles titles, including 12 majors.

After finishing high school, Woodforde joined up to eight other players (mostly Australians) on marathon nine-month tours of Europe. The players crammed into a minivan and shared driving responsibilities while Barry and his beloved wife Anne (who passed away in 2021) followed in their own car.

At the time, Phillips-Moore was adamant that the Europeans tours were a better option than the U.S. collegiate system. At the end of the tour the players would park the car in a hotel parking lot or the like and pick it up several months later during the next season.

“I never would have had a career had I not crossed paths with Barry Phillips-Moore,” Woodforde told ATPTour.com at Wimbledon this week. “He was my coach from the first year that I travelled overseas when I had the aspiration to be a professional tennis player.

“My dad laid the groundwork, but Barry gave me that belief that I could become a tennis player. And I never would have moved to that racquet, that special string (which was approved by authorities) if it weren’t for Barry.”

Mark Woodforde, Richard Fricker, Mike Derer (sitting), Marty Richards and Gavin Pfitzner with Barry Phillips-Moore at a reunion at the Edinburgh Hotel in Adelaide.” />
Barry’s Boys: Former travelling companions Mark Woodforde, Richard Fricker, Mike Derer (sitting), Marty Richards and Gavin Pfitzner with Barry Phillips-Moore at a reunion at the Edinburgh Hotel in Adelaide. Photo courtesy Mark Woodforde.

“Barry Phillips-Moore was a professor,” said esteemed tennis journalist Richard Evans, the author of more than 20 books, including the outstanding ‘The History of Tennis’.

“Apart from bringing up lots of juniors, he was always fiddling around with racquets and stringing. He created a tighter way of stringing racquets so there was less space between the strings. He was just a real tennis guru and, as Mark Woodforde said, without Barry he would never have made it.”

Phillips-Moore had a sports store in Adelaide and in later years would also sell tennis products – racquets, strings, clothing – out of the boot of his car during the European tours with his young players. Former World No. 71 Australian Carl Limberger was among Phillips-Moore’s protégées.

“I remember going into Barry’s family store in Adelaide when I was knee high to a grasshopper and looking up at all this stuff Barry had imported from Europe,” Woodforde said. “It was like being at the circus.

“When I grew up and I decided I wanted to try to become a tennis player, dad reached out to Barry. Barry and Anne came around to the house and said ‘If you want him to have a crack, we can take him away’.

“He had a relaxed approach and said it was okay to fail because I would learn from the mistakes. I had been used to having someone yelling at me and I was afraid to make mistakes. When I started working with Barry it was almost like tasting forbidden fruit.”

Fans quickly noticed new tennis power couple Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Wimbledon mixed doubles draw when it was released, but they are not the only tennis couple in the field.

Partners Katie Boulter of Great Britain and Alex de Minaur of Australia are also playing mixed doubles together for the first time.

“I’ve been bugging her for a while to play. We said we would give it a go at least one time. It’s going to be exciting,” De Minaur said after his first-round singles win Thursday. “It’s going to be fun. I’m going to enjoy it. I’ve been prepping playing a lot of doubles this grass-court season for this mixed. She hasn’t on the other hand. She might be a little bit rusty, but I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Boulter, who is into the third round in singles, is thrilled to be giving it a go with De Minaur.

“I think it’s something we’ve both wanted to do for quite some time. I think we’re both going to really enjoy it and cherish it. It’s not often that you get to have that experience together, especially at Wimbledon,” Boulter said. “We’re going to go out there and have a swing. We’ve got nothing to lose, so I’m looking forward to it.”

The Briton, who will hope the home crowd helps push her and De Minaur through, believes it’s going to be “an experience” competing alongside her boyfriend.

“It’s going to test our relationship. I don’t doubt that for a minute,” Boulter said. “No, it’s a totally different vibe going on the court with him. I think we bring the best out of each other, in terms of tennis, on and off the court. I think we’re going to have a couple smiles on our faces, enjoying ourselves. Yeah, he’s obviously got a lot more experience than me in doubles, and I’ll be looking to draw off him.”

De Minaur refused to name himself captain of their on-court partnership, though. According to the Australian, they have not yet discussed who will play on which side of the court.

“We have not even gotten to that phase,” De Minaur said. “But I would probably recommend her to take the forehand and I might stick to the backhand side. But hey, we never know, we might just switch it up after a set if it’s not going too well.”

Most of all, they look forward to having fun on the court. Boulter and De Minaur will play Australians John Peers and Storm Hunter in the first round.

“I always say this: I play my best tennis when I’m relaxed. I’m enjoying myself. I try really hard to keep reminding myself of that. It really does bring the best out of me,” Boulter said. “I think having him with me will keep me very calm and hopefully we can play some really good doubles.”

Andy Murray will return to court on Friday needing one more set to reach the third round at Wimbledon for just the second time since 2017. The Scot was leading World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-4 on Thursday when play was suspended for the day on Centre Court at 10:38 p.m. The decision was made to stop the match given that a conclusion before the 11 p.m. curfew was very unlikely.

With a raucous crowd watching on, little could separate two-time champion Murray and Greek Tsitsipas as they went blow for blow in a blockbuster second-round clash under the Centre Court roof.

Tsitsipas struck his forehand with destructive power throughout the two hours and 53 minutes they spent on court, but Murray grew as the match went on. After losing the first set, the former World No. 1 showed great movement and struck his groundstrokes with more aggression in the second and third sets to end the day ahead.

There was one moment of worry for Murray in the final game of the third set, though. The Scot fell and clutched his groin while serving for the set, but returned to his feet and sealed the set on the following point. The former World No. 1 will need to examine any lingering consequences of the fall overnight.

Murray and Tsitsipas are locked at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, with the Greek winning their previous major meeting at the US Open in 2021. The winner will play Laslo Djere in the third round after the Serbian defeated #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) 6-3.

Murray holds a 61-12 record at Wimbledon and is a two-time champion, having triumphed in 2013 and 2016. When he returns on Friday, he will aim to earn his maiden Top 5 win of the season and first since June 2022, when he beat Tsitsipas on grass in Stuttgart. The Scot is also aiming to become just the eighth man in the Open Era (since 1968) to earn 200 Grand Slam match wins.

Tsitsipas, who clawed past Dominic Thiem in five sets in the first round, is trying to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the third time. His best result came in 2018 when he advanced to the fourth round.

In a high-quality first set, Murray and Tsitsipas went blow for blow, with both players offering little opportunity to their opponent on serve. Tsitsipas was the more aggressive of the two, hitting 21 winners in the set compared to 11 from Murray, but the Scot showed good movement to hang in rallies.

After Murray saved a set point on serve at 5-6 with a forehand that clipped the line, Tsitsipas gained control in the tie-break. The World No. 5, demonstrated good footwork to dictate with the forehand, overpowering Murray to move ahead.

Murray responded in the second set, though. He hit his watertight groundstrokes with depth and locked in during the tie-break, committing just two unforced errors in the set to level. The Scot raised his fist to the air when he walked back to his chair, embracing the roar from the home crowd.

The former World No. 1 then clinched an early break in the third set and showed his fighting spirit, saving two break points on serve at 2-1 to maintain his momentum. The Scot was strong on serve from then on to take a two-sets-to-one lead.