Winning ugly? Not here, not as Emma Raducanu beamed to the Court No 1 crowd and skipped to the net after this ruthless destruction of Elise Mertens. It would be wrong to declare this a vintage victory, given Raducanu still has relatively little grand slam experience behind her, but a fabulous 6-1 6-2 victory in just 75 minutes against the world No 33 felt a little reminiscent of a couple of famous weeks as an 18-year-old in New York three years ago.

Raducanu was happy to emerge with a scrappy opening win on Monday but this was a performance to be proud of in front of the Wimbledon crowd. When asked to describe how she played, a fan interrupted before she had the chance to reply. If “ugly” was the assessment of her first-round win, a cry of “beautiful!” from the stands was met with approval by the rest of the crowd. Certainly, Raducanu has rarely produced such a comprehensive and commanding attacking display since her big breakthrough in winning the US Open.

Against the unsuspecting Mertens, Raducanu returned to that gameplan. If the Briton routinely stunned her opponents by racing to a series of rapid, straight-sets wins in her sensational grand slam triumph, always playing at full throttle, she brought flashes of her best to Wimbledon.

Sonay Kartal is eager to experience a childhood dream and play on Centre Court after she set up a plum third-round tie with Coco Gauff with a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory over Clara Burel.

World number 298 Kartal had to qualify for the Championships after battling with undisclosed health problems for much of the past year, but followed up a career-best win over 29th seed Sorana Cirstea on Monday with a slice of history two days later.

Kartal’s triumph over Burel made her the first British female qualifier to make round three since 1997 and the first home player through to the last 32 at the All England Club.

Naomi Osaka’s first Wimbledon campaign in five years was emphatically halted by a swift second-round defeat to world number 17 Emma Navarro.

Wild card Osaka entered Centre Court buoyed by her first victory at the All England Club since 2018 following a mixture of injury and mental health struggles, plus the birth of daughter Shai.

But the four-time grand slam champion was unable to build on her three-set opening win over Diane Parry as Navarro comfortably progressed 6-4 6-1 in just 59 minutes.

World number two Coco Gauff is eager to enjoy her busy summer as she cruised into the third round of Wimbledon with another straight-sets victory.

US Open champion Gauff beat qualifier Anca Todoni 6-2 6-1 in 66 minutes on Court One after she also only dropped three games against compatriot Caroline Dolehide on Monday.

It helped to further erase memories of a shock round one exit at the All England Club in 2023 for the American, who has seen her side of the draw open up with Aryna Sabalenka pulling out with a shoulder injury.

As Dan Evans’s first-round match with Alejandro Tabilo resumed on Wednesday, it looked at times as though the Briton was reaching into a bag of tricks, rummaging around desperately for something of use – eyes strained at the sky, tongue lolloped across his face – and pulling out a tool, only to find that his opponent was already holding the same one. Except each time, Tabilo’s was sharper, shinier, more effective.

When their Wimbledon tie resumed on Court 12, the score was 3-3 in the second set, with the Chilean having taken the first on Tuesday. Their match had been suspended due to dimming light and dampening grass, with Evans unwilling to risk injury, having already hurt himself with a fall at Queens.

That fall had left his right knee bandaged here, and perhaps the one upside from this defeat is that – barring a deep doubles run at the All England Club – the 34-year-old will now have more time to recover before the Olympics. Because, ultimately, the end of Evans’s Wimbledon campaign came three weeks before the start of his endeavours in Paris, as Tabilo completed a straight-sets victory under grey skies in SW19.

Andy Murray’s Wimbledon farewell will include an appearance in the mixed doubles alongside Emma Raducanu, with Britain’s two grand slam champions entering the draw as wildcards.

Murray was forced to pull out of his final singles match at the Championships after ruling that he had not recovered from a back operation in time, but the 37-year-old wants to maximise his opportunities at his final Wimbledon before he retires.

Carlos Alcaraz turned to his box, clenching his fist in delight with that familiar intensity. This remains relatively new ground for the Wimbledon champion, who is still just 21, but after improving his record on grass to 19-3, this straight-sets victory (7-6, 6-2, 6-3) over Aleksandar Vukic appeared ordinary. Yet a closer inspection revealed a crucial habit that could enable the Spaniard to defend his title and move to four career grand slams.

A defiant Novak Djokovic, gritting his teeth through the lingering effects of surgery, and the world No 1, Jannik Sinner, pose obvious threats to this promising title defence. And his blossoming rivalry with the Italian appears well-balanced on the surface, with the head-to-head currently standing at 5-4 in the Spaniard’s favour. Wimbledon, too, appears to be sitting on the fence after flipping both contenders on that side of the draw from Centre to No 1 Court between their first and second-round matches.

Wimbledon is Andy Murray and Andy Murray is Wimbledon

“I got asked, literally like 10 seconds, I was like, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think some things are bigger than just tennis. I think some things are a once-in-a-lifetime memory that you’re going to have for the rest of your life. To play at Wimbledon with Andy Murray, those things don’t come by.

“At the end of my life, at the end of my career when I’m like 70 years old, I know I’m going to have that memory of playing Wimbledon with Andy Murray on a home slam. For me, yeah, it was an honour to be asked.

“I think I want obviously to do well with him. I’m not playing to kind of lose. I really don’t want to let him down. Of course, that’s the one thing I don’t want to do. I’m going to be on my best form, trying hard. Probably be more nervous for that than the singles.

“I think I just wish him the best. I think Wimbledon is Andy Murray and Andy Murray is Wimbledon. Yeah, I just want to see him do well.”

Emma Raducanu on her 6-1 6-2 victory over Elise Mertens and reaching the Wimbledon third round:

“I enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun. I think that when my character shows through my tennis is when I play my best. I’m really pleased with that. Honestly, me following Carlos [Alcaraz], it was pretty cool to watch him play because he has the same sort of demeanor and just enjoyment of the sport.

“I think I played very well, but I don’t think it was my best match since US Open. I think I’ve played a few matches that I was personally probably happier with.

“Today I’m very pleased with how I handled situations. It’s always a lot of fun, but it’s never easy stepping out onto a massive court and playing in front of the home crowd. It’s not straightforward.

“I think the way I handled that, the first game going Love-30, then regrouping, finding a good rhythm, I’m very pleased with that, but I wouldn’t say it was my best performance.”

If Jannik Sinner is going to win Wimbledon, he is going to have to do it the hard way. That much is already clear. Some might suggest there is no easy way to go the distance at the All England Club, but there are surely easier ways to win than this.

Alcaraz, 21, has impressed with two straight-sets wins, while Sinner, 22, has only touched his best tennis in fleeting passages of play. It was the case for Sinner on Monday, and it was the case on Wednesday, though admittedly against an intriguing opponent. To Jannik Sinner, Matteo Berrettini is a friend and compatriot; to everyone else, he is a former Wimbledon finalist.

And frankly, you wouldn’t have assumed a friendship between Berrettini and the Australian Open champion, given the way these players were brutalising the ball. There was something harsh and clinical about Berrettini’s work, but in the best way. Under the closed Centre Court roof, there was an enduring echo to the slap of his racket against the ball, and to the ensuing “ooo”s in the crowd. Across the net, Sinner was tasked with finding counters.

Here is how their epic clash played out: