Thursday 26 June 2014 14:50, UK
Heather Watson takes centre stage on Centre Court on Thursday as she looks to keep British hopes alive in the women’s draw at Wimbledon.
Having seen off Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic in the opening round, Watson is back in action on day four of the tournament when she faces German ninth seed Angelique Kerber in the second match on court.
The pair have never met before on the WTA Tour but while the British No 1 will be the outsider, she has already knocked out one player ranked above her at Wimbledon this year.
Against Tomljanovic the 22-year-old lost just five games, while at Eastbourne she recorded a first ever victory over an opponent inside the top 20 in the world when she defeated Flavia Pennetta.
Kerber knows what it is like to lose to a home favourite at Wimbledon; she was beaten by Laura Robson in 2011, though then returned to the event the following year to reach the semi-finals.
Watson has been left flying the flag in the women’s draw after Naomi Broady was beaten in straight sets by Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday in a match that lasted under an hour.
There is, though, plenty of British interest in the doubles, including the pairing of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins. They are up against the 16th-seeded duo Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Spaniard David Marrero out on Court 11.
As for the men’s singles draw, Rafael Nadal is up first on Centre, the second seed getting the chance to avenge one of the most shocking losses of his career when he takes on Lukas Rosol.
The pair have met before in the second round at the All England Club; back in 2012, Czech Rosol stunned the Spaniard in a five-set thriller that saw him manage 65 winners and 22 aces. He showed nerves of steel in the decider, not giving up a single point in his final three service games.
Since that famous victory Rosol’s career has not really kicked on, though once again he finds himself faced with the prospect of taking on the reigning French Open champion with a third round spot up for grabs.
Over on Court 1, Serena Williams kicks off proceedings when she takes on Chanelle Scheepers, while the third match sees fifth seed Maria Sharapova up against Timea Bacsinszky. Sandwiched in between is a men's singles clash between Stanislas Wawrinka, the fifth-seeded Swiss, and Yen-Hsun Lu.
Two men with Wimbledon pedigree meet in a potentially intriguing encounter on Court 2, last year’s semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz of Poland going head-to-head with 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt.
