Henri Kontinen and John Peers arrived at The Championships with plenty of momentum after capturing the Fever-Tree Championships title, their first as a team on grass, last month. And they appeared set to escape trouble in the first round at the All England Club.

But the third seeds could not complete a two-set comeback at Wimbledon on Thursday. The Argentine-Chilean duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry beat Kontinen/Peers 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 8-6.

Defending champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo had better luck, ousting home favourites Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. It was a tough test for the No. 2 seeds, as the British duo was fresh off its maiden ATP World Tour title, earned at last week’s Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.

In other action, eighth seeds Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya beat Jurgen Melzer and Daniel Nestor, who were competing together for the first time, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. No. 13 seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus finished off Aussies Alex Bolt and Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in a match that was carried over to Thursday due to rain. Seventh seeds Jack Sock and Mike Bryan, whose twin brother, Bob, is out with a hip injury, advanced when Italians Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi retired down 3-6, 0-2.

#NextGenATP Taylor Fritz is one set away from a stunning victory at Wimbledon, taking a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(0) lead against fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Thursday before play was suspended due to darkness.

Fritz is pursuing his second main-draw win at the All England Club, after earning his first on Tuesday. He arrived at SW19 having lost his past four tour-level matches, but that has not stopped the American from putting forth his best performance of the year.

His opponent, three-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion Zverev, won the pair’s only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting in straight sets at the Citi Open in 2016. And the 21-year-old is no stranger to having his back against the wall. At Roland Garros, the German became the eighth player in the Open Era to battle through three consecutive five-setters in Paris.

Fritz performs well under pressure, too, holding a 12-2 record in deciding-set tie-breaks at all levels, including 5-2 at tour-level.

The winner will play former World No. 10 Ernests Gulbis, who defeated No. 27 seed Damir Dzumhur 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. The Latvian advances to the third round at the All England Club for the second consecutive year, and he has a plethora of experience, competing in his 41st major main draw. Gulbis reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2014 and the quarter-finals in 2008.

Dzumhur was fresh off of his third ATP World Tour title, lifting the trophy at last week’s Turkish Airlines Open Antalya.

Did You Know?
Zverev reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros. Previously, he had not advanced past the Round of 16 in 11 attempts. 

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John Isner knows a thing or two about striking aces. At The Championships eight years ago, he struck a record 113 aces in a 70-68 fifth set victory over Nicolas Mahut in the first round.

On Thursday, in a match carried over from the previous night, the American fired 64 aces — the second-most of his career and the third-most in Wimbledon history — with two of those cannonballs saving two match points at 4-5, 15/40 in the deciding set en route to victory over qualifier Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium.

Isner completed a 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-7(3), 7-5 second-round win in three hours and 46 minutes, having resumed the clash at 3-4 in the fifth set. Isner, who also saved one break point when serving for the match at 6-5, won 80 per cent of his first-service points for a place in the Wimbledon third round for the fourth time.

The 33-year-old, competing at the All England Club for the 10th time, now faces Radu Albot.

Elsewhere, third seed Marin Cilic, who finished runner-up to Roger Federer in last year’s final, is also locked in a fifth-set battle, carried over from Wednesday, against Guido Pella of Argentina.

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Lleyton Hewitt and Alex Bolt will need to come out firing on Thursday if they are to reach the second round at Wimbledon. The unseeded Australian duo, who reached the Surbiton Trophy semi-finals on the ATP Challenger Tour in June, trailed No. 13 seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 1-4 when rain called an end to play on Wednesday at The All England Club.

The 37-year-old Hewitt, who owns a 5-5 doubles record at tour-level this season, is bidding to secure his 10th victory in 17 doubles encounters at SW19. Hewitt is aiming to reach the doubles quarter-finals for the first time, having reached the Round of 16 on four occasions.

Defending champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo led Nature Valley International champions Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 6-4, 6-3, 3-4 before rain cancelled play. Kubot and Melo, who defeated Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic to lift the 2017 trophy, are bidding to become the first team in nine years to successfully defend the title (2009, Nestor/Zimonjic).

The winners of the first-round clash will face Jonathan Erlich and Marcin Matkowski in the second round. Erlich and Matkowski edged a tight three-set battle against Frenchmen Jonathan Eysseric and Hugo Nys 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(8).

Roland Garros champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut began their bid for a second Wimbledon title (2016) in style, beating Roberto Carballes Baena and Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. The fourth seeds fired eight aces and won 74 per cent of second-serve points to advance after 84 minutes.

Nature Valley International finalists Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski needed just 86 minutes to defeat Ilija Bozoljac and Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The British brothers will meet ninth seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer or David Ferrer and Marc Lopez. Qureshi and Rojer lead 7-6(3), 6-4, 2-1.

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Robin Haase and Robert Lindstedt upset 10th-seeded Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-3. The unseeded duo saved all six break points they faced and converted two of three break opportunities to progress after two hours and 12 minutes.

Haase and Lindstedt will face Antonio Sancic and Andrei Vasilevski in the second round. The Croatian-Belarusian tandem defeated Japanese pairing Taro Daniel and Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Libema Open champions Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor safely booked their spot in the second round, beating Marton Fucsovics and Mischa Zverev 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. The No. 15 seeds won 88 per cent of first-serve points to progress after one hour and 46 minutes.

Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers overcame Andre Begemann and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7). The No. 11 seeds converted three of seven break point chances throughout the two-hour, 32-minute clash. Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos lead No. 16 seeds Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald 6-1, 2-3.

We know about “Manic Monday”, the second Monday of Wimbledon in which both the men’s and women’s fourth-round matches take place. But what about “Thrilling Thursday”?

Day four of The Championships is set to be extra packed as the regular slate of second-round matches will be joined by 11 to-be-finished men’s contests, including six singles matchups that were carried over from Wednesday because of rain.

Second seed Rafael Nadal leads the day on Centre Court against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. The No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings had little trouble dismissing Dudi Sela during his opener on Tuesday, and holds a 3-0 advantage, including a 2014 third-round Wimbledon win, in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with the 30-year-old Kukushkin.

Three-time champion Novak Djokovic will go for his 60^th win at Wimbledon and try to become just the fifth man to win 60 times at SW19. His opponent, Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos, No. 126 in the ATP Rankings, has captured only one tour-level victory on grass.

Top Brit Kyle Edmund looks to carry the British flag high once more when he meets American Bradley Klahn. Edmund, playing at his career-high No. 17 in the ATP Rankings, is trying to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the first time.

Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the day will come when fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro and Spain’s Feliciano Lopez step onto No. 1 Court. Del Potro is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist (2013), but three of Lopez’s six ATP World Tour titles have come on grass, including last year’s Fever-Tree Championships at The Queen’s Club. The 36-year-old Spaniard is playing in his 66^th consecutive Grand Slam championship.

#NextGenATP Taylor Fritz of the U.S. will have the opportunity to make a statement victory against fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who’s looking to back up his Roland Garros quarter-final run. Can Aussie Bernard Tomic summon his 2011 Wimbledon magic, when he made the quarter-finals? Tomic meets 24^th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan.

Tomic’s compatriot Nick Kyrgios, a favourite of some to make a deep run, meets Robin Haase of The Netherlands, and 26^th seed Denis Shapovalov will try to go 2-0 against Frenchmen during the fortnight when he meets Benoit Paire. Canada’s #NextGenATP star beat Jeremy Chardy in his Wimbledon opener.

Among the matches to be finished that were carried over from Wednesday:

• Third seed Marin Cilic leads Argentine Guido Pella 6-3, 6-1, 3-4;
• Eighth seed Kevin Anderson leads Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 1-1;
• Stan Wawrinka is trying to to come back against Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano as the Swiss is down 6-7(7), 3-6, 6-5;
• Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans is mounting a comeback of his own against ninth seed John Isner, leading 1-6, 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 4-3;
• Isner’s compatriot Jared Donaldson is two service holds away from forcing a fifth set against #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas after the American broke in the fifth but trails 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 4-3;
• And German Philipp Kohlschreiber leads Gilles Muller, who beat Nadal in the fourth round last year, 7-6(6), 6-6(5/3).

Marin Cilic, Stan Wawrinka and Kevin Anderson will all have to return to Wimbledon on Thursday, after rain suspended several big matches on day three at The All England Club. Cilic, looking to extend his 2018 unbeaten streak on grass to seven matches, won the opening two sets of his encounter with Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4, but trails the Argentine by a break at 3-4 in the third set.

The No. 3 seed, who saved match point against Novak Djokovic to lift his second title at The Fever-Tree Championships in June, is bidding to reach the third round at The All England Club for the fifth consecutive year. Cilic has reached the quarter-finals or better in each of his past four visits to SW19.

American Mackenzie McDonald awaits either Cilic or Pella the third round. The 23-year-old edged Chilean Nicolas Jarry 7-6(5), 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 11-9, in just over three and a half hours, to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time. McDonald’s best result at a Grand Slam prior to Wimbledon was a run to the second round at the 2018 Australian Open, falling in five sets to Grigor Dimitrov.

Wawrinka, who upset sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov on Monday, is locked in a battle against Italian Thomas Fabbiano, who leads 7-6(7), 6-3, 5-6 (deuce). Wawrinka led 5/1 in the first-set tie-break but was unable to put away Fabbiano, who qualified and is playing just his third tour-level match on grass.

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American Jared Donaldson looks as if he could be in the midst of a comeback as well against Greece’s #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Athens native leads 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 3-4. The winner of Wawrinka/Fabbiano will face Donaldson or Tsitsipas for a spot in the Round of 16.

Eighth seed Kevin Anderson, three times a fourth-round finisher at SW19, leads Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 1-1. The winner will meet German Philipp Kohlschreiber or Gilles Muller, who beat Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon fourth round last year. Kohlschreiber leads 7-6(6), 6-6.