It’s been two years since Emma Raducanu – 2021’s breakthrough British sporting star – strode out onto the Wimbledon stage with the weight of an expectant crowd on her shoulders. Back then, she was impacted by a side strain and was outplayed in the second round. Last year, she spent her SW19 fortnight away from the courts, entertaining guests in the hospitality areas in a role she insisted pre-tournament “really stung”. Yet after 24 months of setbacks and surgeries, the 21-year-old was back on the pristine grass of the All England Club.

All eyes are usually on Novak Djokovic when he steps on to Centre Court at Wimbledon but this time, they were trained on one specific body part – his right knee.

British wild card Jacob Fearnley will embrace the special experience of playing Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon after his straight-sets victory over Alejandro Moro Canas set up a second-round tie with the 24-time grand slam champion.

Fearnley only finished his five-year stint at Texas Christian University (TCU) in May and was ranked outside the top 500 until he won an ATP Challenger event in Nottingham as a qualifier last month.

It helped earn the 22-year-old from Scotland a wild card for this year’s Championships and despite being distracted by Djokovic’s score on a screen outside Centre Court, he marked his debut at the All England Club with a 7-5 6-4 7-6 (12) victory on a buoyant Court Eight.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t watching the scores on Centre Court. It was getting in my head a little bit that I was going to have to play him,” Fearnley said.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a little bit intimidating, but it’s a match that I’m super excited for. It’s the biggest match of my career so far. Just to be able to share the court with a player like that will be really special.

“I’ve watched so many videos of him. It doesn’t look like there’s many flaws in his game. I’m going to just try and enjoy it, put my game out on the court and see what happens. I don’t think there’s many tactics going into the match.”

With one sweeping backhand passing shot down the line, British No 1 Katie Boulter sauntered through to the second round at Wimbledon on Tuesday evening.

The 27-year-old had enjoyed a terrific season so far, defending her title in Nottingham and earning the biggest trophy of her career in San Diego in February. En route to that second crown in Nottingham a few weeks back, Boulter battled through a tight and contentious three-set match against British No 2 Harriet Dart, in which Dart labelled the chair umpire “embarrassing” and wagered £50,000 that an overruled line-call went against her.

Get the popcorn ready because, enthrallingly, it is Dart who Boutler faces in round two on Thursday.

“Playing a Brit in the UK on the grass is never an easy draw,” Boulter said of the all-British match-up. “I’m expecting an absolute battle. But it’s about playing the tennis ball, not the person.”

Cameron Norrie set aside recent grass-court struggles to ease into the second round of Wimbledon with a straight-sets success over tournament debutant Facundo Diaz Acosta.

The unseeded 28-year-old entered Court Three seeking to rediscover the form which brought a run to the semi-finals at the All England Club in 2022.

He answered his critics following first-round exits at Queen’s and Eastbourne – on the back of suffering a similar fate at the French Open – with a 7-5 7-5 6-3 win which sets up a round-two showdown with British number one Jack Draper.

“He’s a really good friend of mine,” Norrie, speaking on court, said of Draper.

“We’ve practised together so many times and we always have high-level practices and we always have positive energy.

“I always want him to do well. I would love to play him at Wimbledon, it would be a special one.”

And while a scrappy, often unconvincing five-set win over the qualifier Elias Ymer hardly felt like the triumphant start of a new era for British tennis at Wimbledon, it was reminiscent of something else. The Centre Court crowd had come for Murray – Draper said so himself – but still saw a display of heart and grit from the 22-year-old. As Murray proved countless times during his golden years, success at Wimbledon is built on such qualities.

It may have been a fitting tribute to his idol, but as Draper thumped a final serve out wide on match point and smacked a ball high into the rafters on Centre Court, this was a victory that was met with more relief and frustration than outright celebration.

Clearly, a fifth-set decider was not the plan for the 29th seed Draper, expected to dispatch an opponent ranked outside the world’s top 200 who had only played two tour level matches this year. He will be aiming higher after returning to the second round, against the former British No 1 and Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie.

CENTRE COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:30 START

Alexandre Muller (FRA) vs Daniil Medvedev [5] 1

Naomi Osaka (JPN) vs Emma Navarro (USA) [19] 2

Jannik Sinner (ITA) [1] vs Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 3

No.1 COURT – SHOW COURT – 13:00 START

Anca Todoni (ROU) vs Coco Gauff (USA) [2] 1

Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) [3] vs Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) 2

Emma Raducanu (GBR) vs Elise Mertens (BEL) 3

Full order of play below:

“I really enjoyed it, to play in front of you guys, I missed it last year. You probably wanted to see Andy out here but you were stuck with me instead.

“It really helped me out here, there were some nervy moments, I appreciate the support it means a lot.

On filling in for Andy Murray: “What an honour, honestly! I wouldn’t be here without Andy, such a guy off the court, so genuine, so kind, what a champion and what a competitor.”

The British No 1 is through in five sets – after three hours and 17 minutes!

Draper seals it in style, starting the final game with two aces, and Ymer nets on the forehand to bring up three match points!

A backhand winner bang on the baseline gets it done for Draper!

The 22-year-old receives a gigantic roar from the Centre Court crowd! He’s in the second round!

The relief will be huge…

Draper is on the charge from the off, finishing the first point at the net, but he goes a tad long at 0-30 and a tad wide at 15-30.

Ymer serves big at 30-30 and then Draper misses a fairly routine backhand volley!

Will it matter? Draper now serves for the match!