At 93, John Wright is still serving up aces and challenging line calls with a passion John McEnroe would be proud of.

Having travelled the world with the Merchant Navy from a young age, he didn’t have the opportunity to take up the game until he was 49.

By then he found there was little encouragement or opportunities for “sub-standard” players like himself.

“Nobody wanted to see me, they used to hide when I came down to the club,” he joked.

“I realised the situation is the same everywhere, it doesn’t matter which club you go to.

“I thought these poor people, they come down to play tennis but nobody wants them because they don’t play to their standard or give a good game.”

• The 71-year-old still competing in judo
• ‘Tennis saved my life’
• The 81-year-old woman who can bench press 115lb

In 1987 John decided to set up a Friday night group at Haverfordwest Tennis Club in Pembrokeshire, which welcomes players of all capabilities with open arms.

It has been going strong ever since and John has earned himself something of a legendary status in west Wales’ tennis circles.

“If it wasn’t for John I wouldn’t be playing,” said Liz Green, who has been in John’s group for 26 years.

“When I came back after having my two children I lost my confidence and didn’t feel good enough to play on club nights.

“Everybody here will have their own story, but they will all have come initially because they had lost their confidence or didn’t feel good enough to play.”

Other members described him as inspirational, kind and welcoming.

As well as increasing participation, when John was chairman at Llangollen Tennis Club in 1975 he oversaw a decision to scrap the “all white clothing rule” in a bid to make the sport more informal.

John leads and plays in two tennis groups in Haverfordwest on Mondays and Fridays.

He says he “knows the mechanics of the game” but is unable to demonstrate the shots like he used to.

But his members insist he’s still more than capable of hitting winners and loves to challenge a line call.

Not even the recent heat wave has stopped him from playing.

John has played competitively in leagues over the years and picked up his first piece of silverware in a mixed doubles tournament aged 88, but he admits to preferring the fun and social side of the game.

“I don’t think you make too many friends playing competitive tennis. There’s an old saying, ‘I’ve got lots of friends I don’t like,'” he said.

“We (the Friday group) have a good laugh. Serious play is not of any interest to me.”

And John has no plans of hanging up his racket anytime soon, saying “age doesn’t matter at all”.

John said his all time favourite tennis player is the controversial Romanian Ilie Nastase.

“He didn’t play to the textbook like he should have done,” he said.

“I don’t think he ever had any coaching, but there wasn’t a shot that he couldn’t make at any time.

“He had so much fun out of the game, almost to the point where it would cost him the game sometimes.

“But he was always trying to have a laugh and a joke and he was such a fluent player.”

John’s favourite current player is Roger Federer, but he refused to be drawn in on who will take the Wimbledon title this year.

And John’s love of sport does not stop at tennis, the 93-year-old also has a love of racing fast cars.

When he turned 90, John drove an Aston Martin around Silverstone at 124mph, and harbours dreams of driving a McLaren Formula 1 race car.

Britain’s Jay Clarke and Cameron Norrie were knocked out of the men’s doubles first round at Wimbledon after a five-set thriller against Marcelo Arevalo and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo.

The pair were leading two sets to one before losing the dramatic fifth set which finished 22-20 on Court 14.

The British duo were handed a wildcard to compete in their first Grand Slam.

But fifth seed Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares beat Paolo Lorenzi and Albert Ramos-Vinolas in three sets.

• Live scores, schedules and results
• Why are so many seeds out already?

It was a comfortable victory for Britain’s Murray and his Brazilian partner – winning their match 7-5 6-2 6-1 in an hour and a half.

Murray is partnering Victoria Azarenka in the mixed doubles and their first-round match against Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Roman Jebavy was suspended a one set all because of bad light.

Teenager Clarke recovered from his earlier five-set loss to join Harriet Dart in a 4-6 6-1 6-4 mixed doubles victory over the Chinese-Swedish pair of Yang Zhaoxuan and Robert Lindstedt.

In the men’s doubles, Liverpudlian brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski beat Nabeel Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-2) to reach the third round..

Compatriot Joe Salisbury is also through to round three with his Danish partner Frederik Nielsen after their opponents Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin retired two sets and 3-2 down in the third.

Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor came through to win 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-2 in five sets against Santiago Gonzalez and Marcelo Demoliner.

Ken Skupski was back in action later in the day, alongside fellow Briton Anna Smith, to make it through to the mixed doubles second round with a 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 victory over Nicholas Monroe and Oksana Kalashnikova.

Heather Watson and her partner Tatjana Maria also ensured they had a place in the third round of the women’s doubles with a routine 6-3 6-1 win over Raquel Atawo and Anna-Lena Gronefeld.

But Luke Bambridge and Katie Boulter were knocked out of the mixed doubles event at the first stage, losing two tie-breaks against Andrei Vasilevski and Arina Rodionova.

And in an all-British affair, it was Neal Skupki and Naomi Broady who came through as winners in the mixed doubles first round with a two-set victory over Salisbury and Katy Dunne.

There were more shock exits in the women’s singles draw on day five at Wimbledon.

But elsewhere Nick Kyrgios still grabbed the headlines, Roger Federer and Serena Williams continued to dominate on Centre Court and there was a three-day, five-hour, five-set thriller involving two Britons in the men’s doubles.

Here are five things from Wimbledon day five.

Federer sweeps aside Struff

Top seed Federer was flawless yet again.

Whatever Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff threw at him, he had an answer and it was in typically emphatic fashion that he made it through to round four with a 6-3 7-5 6-2 win on Centre Court.

The defending champion needed just one hour and 34 minutes to win – a much easier ride than his next opponent Adrian Mannarino, who had to come from behind in the fifth set to make it through to the last 16.

The Swiss has still not even dropped a set at Wimbledon this year – extending his winning streak to 29 in a row – and he looks full of energy.

• Federer continues flawless tournament
• How can Kyle Edmund beat Novak Djokovic?
• Monfils beats Querrey – men’s round-up

Venus the latest star to fall

Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was the biggest casualty on another tough day for the seeded players.

Eight of the top 10 seeds in the women’s singles have now failed to make it through to the last 16.

“Some of it is players not having a plan B, or plan C,” former Australian Open semi-finalist Chanda Rubin told BBC Sport.

“You have to somehow find a way to win on those days when you are not at your best and some of the top players just haven’t been able to do that.”

• Why are so many seeds out of Wimbledon?

Ninth seed Williams, 38, was beaten 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 8-6 by 26-year-old Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.

Williams’ fellow American Madison Keys, 23, also exited after an erratic 7-5 5-7 6-4 loss to Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina who is ranked 120th in the world.

Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu fought back the tears as she lost 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 to Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova.

Russian Ekaterina Makarova, Germany’s Julia Goerges and Donna Vekic of Croatia all progressed.

Serena improves again in third showing

While many around her are falling, Serena Williams is only growing in stature.

She came through her first proper test against France’s Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 7-6 (7-2) despite going a break down in the first set.

The 23-time Grand Slam champions still hasn’t dropped a set and with eight of the top 10 women’s seeds now out, the road is clearing rapidly towards an eighth Wimbledon title.

“Just getting to the round of 16 twice is not bad. Hopefully I can do a little bit better,” she said. “I don’t have anything to lose. I have absolutely nothing to prove.”

• Serena Williams powers into round four

Britons come out on wrong side of 42-game final set

With only one home player left in action in the singles draws, attentions turned to the doubles, where eight Britons made it through.

Jay Clarke and Cameron Norrie did not but they were involved in an epic five-hour battle on court 14 against first-round opponents Marcelo Arevalo and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo.

The match began on Wednesday and was suspended with the Britons 3-2 up in the first set because of rain. It resumed on Thursday but bad light forced another stoppage with Clarke and Norrie two sets to one up and leading 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 4-3.

Arevalo and Podlipnik-Castillo bounced back to take the fourth set 6-4 on Friday. The players tussled back and forth in the fifth and final set, before Clarke and Norrie lost it 22-20 in front of a highly entertained crowd.

It was the first time the two Britons were playing together at a Grand Slam after they were handed a wildcard to compete in the men’s doubles – and it was certainly a match to remember.

• Round-up of all the doubles action

Kyrgios at the centre of it all again

Kyrgios has already caused controversy at this year’s Wimbledon championships and he did so again on Friday without even lifting a racquet.

After getting caught up in two exchanges with umpire James Keothavong on Thursday, receiving a code violation for inappropriate language, the Australian 15th seed has now caused further sparks with his social media use.

He went on Instagram to respond to criticism from 2013 champion Marion Bartoli after she said he was “childish” and lacks “work ethic” on Radio 5 live on Thursday.

Kyrgios asked Bartoli to “stop assuming you know what’s best for others” in a lengthy post which he signed off with the words: “we don’t care what you have to say”.

He faces Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the third match on Court One on Saturday.