Wimbledon day five: Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal carry British singles hopes

Emma Raducanu will face a familiar foe on Friday as she looks to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second time.

The 21-year-old takes on world number nine Maria Sakkari, while her old junior rival Sonay Kartal, 22, takes on second seed Coco Gauff.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner remain on a collision course for a semi-final clash, but the Spaniard will have to overcome his first major test.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what to expect on day five.

From junior rivals to Wimbledon headliners

Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal have come a long way since playing against each other as kids.

On Friday, both will be in action on Wimbledon’s main show courts against players ranked in the world’s top 10.

The pair have taken very different paths to this stage, with Raducanu a US Open champion while Kartal had never won a grand slam match until this summer.

Kartal came through qualifying and after recording two impressive victories over top-50 players, she will face world number two Gauff on Court One.

Raducanu will come face-to-face again with Sakkari – her opponent in the US Open semi-final during her fairytale run in 2021.

Match of the day

Another US Open semi-final rematch takes place on Centre Court on Friday as reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz faces American Frances Tiafoe.

Alcaraz beat Tiafoe in a thrilling five-set clash in New York in 2022 as the Spaniard went on to win his first grand slam title.

Their first meeting since then will open play on Centre Court. But third seed Alcaraz hopes this one will be over quicker.

“We played five sets at the end. It was a really close match. Hopefully (it is) not going to be the same this year,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure that the people are going to enjoy this match.”

Sinner schedule eases up

World number one Jannik Sinner may have felt unlucky to have run into Italian compatriot Matteo Berrettini in the second round.

But after battling past the former Wimbledon finalist in four sets of brilliant tennis, the 22-year-old will be expected to have fewer issues with world number 52 Miomir Kecmanovic.

The Serbian has equalled his best Wimbledon run after beating 27th seed Tallon Griekspoor in five sets in round two, but he has never beaten Sinner in three meetings.

Brit watch

Raducanu and Kartal are the only ones playing singles, but there will be plenty of doubles action involving home players.

Among them, Harriet Dart – the day before her third-round singles match – partners Lloyd Glasspool in the mixed doubles while Charles Broom and Arthur Fery – both beaten in the first round of singles – will also return as a doubles team.

And Joe Salisbury is in second-round action with men’s doubles partner Rajeev Ram while Neal Skupski starts his mixed doubles campaign with Desirae Krawczyk.

Order of play

Centre Court from 1.30pm:
Carlos Alcaraz (3) v Frances Tiafoe (29)
Emma Raducanu v Maria Sakkari (9)
Jannik Sinner (1) v Miomir Kecmanovic
Court One from 1pm:
Jasmine Paolini (7) v Bianca Andreescu
Grigor Dimitrov (10) v Gael Monfils
Sonay Kartal v Coco Gauff (2)

Weather

Heavy rain changing to cloudy by lunchtime with highs of 19, according to the Met Office.