Murray in charge vs Tsitsipas

Andy Murray was within touching distance of the Wimbledon third round on Thursday when he opened up a two sets to one lead over world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas while Stan Wawrinka set up a tasty clash with Novak Djokovic.

British two-time champion Murray lost the first set of a high-class contest but roared back to lead 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 when the Centre Court duel was halted just before the All England Club curfew of 11 p.m.

The suspension came at the right moment for the 36-year-old as he fell and hurt his left groin, leaving him screaming in pain.

However, he picked himself up to serve out the third set and will be in the ascendancy when the match resumes on Friday.

In the biggest shock of the tournament so far, fourth seed Casper Ruud crashed out at the hands of British wild card Liam Broady in five sets.

Defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina reached the last 32 with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) win against French veteran Alize Cornet despite an error-strewn display.

Significant rainfall earlier in the week meant there was still a clutch of first-round matches on Thursday, including Alexander Zverev’s 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5) win against Dutch qualifier Gijs Brouwer.

Men’s seventh seed Andrey Rublev beat Russian compatriot Aslan Karatsev in four sets.