Ninth seed Taylor Fritz finally booked his spot in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday when he overcame Yannick Hanfmann in a five-set thriller that began on Monday.

After coming off for bad light with Fritz leading 3-2 in the fifth set on Monday night, the American and his German opponent had to wait until Wednesday to complete their clash due to rain. Competing on Court 2, Fritz came out firing upon the restart, gaining a quick break to advance 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 after three hours and one minute.

“It is great. I am going to have to come back and play tomorrow. It rained all day yesterday and off and on today, so I really just wanted to get on court and play,” Fritz said. “I am glad I can just focus on the next match.”

With his 30th tour-level win of the season, Fritz avenged his defeat against Hanfmann in Rome in May. The 25-year-old, who struck 42 winners and broke the German four times, will next meet Mikael Ymer after the Swede beat Alex Molcan 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

Fritz has fond memories at Wimbledon, having advanced to the quarter-finals in 2022 when he pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets. His best result this season was a run to his fifth tour-level title in Delray Beach.

A bumper Day 3 at Wimbledon has begun after light morning rain delayed the start of play at the All England Club, where 87 matches across the men’s and women’s singles draws are set to be completed Wednesday at the grass-court major.

Play began at approximately 12:45 p.m. local time (BST) on the outside courts in south-west London, where a host of top ATP stars will be in action. On Court 2, ninth seed Taylor Fritz and Yannick Hanfmann will resume their first-round clash that was interrupted by rain on Monday with Fritz leading 3-2 on serve in the fifth set. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem will then complete their opening-round meeting, which began on Tuesday. Thiem leads the fifth-seeded Tsitsipas 6-3, 3-4.

With Centre Court and Court 1 each fitted with a roof, Daniil Medvedev will begin his campaign at 1:00 p.m. local time regardless of outside conditions. The third seed takes on home wild card Arthur Fery on Court 1, where Jannik Sinner later plays Diego Schwartzman. On Centre Court, where play begins at 1:30 p.m. BST, defending champion Novak Djokovic’s second-round clash against Jordan Thompson is the final match on Wednesday’s schedule.

Kei Nishikori continued his impressive return on the ATP Challenger Tour Tuesday with a convincing 6-1, 6-2 win in the first round of the Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The former No. 4 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings last month returned for his first action in 20 months. The 33-year-old has not missed a beat. Nishikori won his return event in Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico with the loss of just one set.

The comeback continues for Kei 💪

The former world No. 4 moves past Walton 6-1, 6-2 in Bloomfield Hills to reach the second round#ATPChallenger | @keinishikori pic.twitter.com/GR8pPLspC5

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) July 4, 2023

On Tuesday, Nishikori lost just three games, the most lopsided scoreline of his comeback. The 12-time ATP Tour titlist saved all four break points he faced and converted four of his five break chances to advance after 66 minutes. The wild card will next play former World No. 53 Denis Kudla, who defeated Tunisian Skander Mansouri 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

Nishikori began his comeback without a Pepperstone ATP Ranking. With his six victories, he has returned to the Top 500 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Watch Match Replay: Kei Nishikori vs. Adam Walton