American world number 10 Frances Tiafoe kicked off his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title by sealing a 7-6(4) 6-3 6-4 victory over Chinese debutant Wu Yibing in a rain-interrupted first round clash at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
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Tiafoe, seeking to become the first American man to win the trophy since Pete Sampras bagged his seventh title at the major in 2000, recovered after dropping his serve early in the first set to level at 2-2 before rain halted play.
"It was tough but... it's Wimbledon, you've got to expect stuff like that. I'm happy to get the win and hope you guys enjoyed it," said Tiafoe.
The players returned but were back inside two games later and when play resumed again, it was the 25-year-old Tiafoe who took charge of the tight opening set in the tiebreak and closed it out with a powerful serve.
"I love playing on grass and I have high hopes here for Wimbledon," added Tiafoe, who warmed up by winning the Stuttgart grasscourt title.
"I definitely didn't come along for a vacation. I want to do real damage here and hopefully be here two Sundays from now."
Wu, making his Wimbledon debut and his fourth appearance at a Grand Slam, took a medical timeout early in the second set and had his pulse checked but resumed following a lengthy off-court evaluation.
The world number 62 did not seem too badly affected by the unspecified issue but Tiafoe shifted gears to double his lead in the match and after freely trading breaks in the third, closed out the victory with a solid service game.
"Obviously, he's a high quality player. It's tough, he wasn't feeling well. With that and all the rain delays there was a lot of waiting," Tiafoe said.
"I'm a really relaxed guy but I do like finishing a tennis match. I was happy how I handled it."
The 10th seed, who reached the fourth round last year, next meets Dominic Stricker after the Swiss qualifier beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 3-6 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5.
Last year's quarterfinalist Taylor Fritz also booked a spot in the second round and a clash with Mikael Ymer after a 6-4 2-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 win over Yannick Hanfmann.
That match was suspended on Monday due to darkness and could not resume on a rainy Tuesday with Fritz up 3-2 in the decider.
"It's great. I'm going to have to play tomorrow. It rained all day yesterday and off and on today, so I really just wanted to get on court and play," Fritz said.
"I'm glad I can just focus on the next match."
The world No 9, along with Tiafoe, is looking to become the first American men's Grand Slam champion since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003.
RUNE SAILS THROUGH AFTER RAIN-DELAYED WIN
Holger Rune sailed through to the second round of Wimbledon for the first time with a 7-6(4) 6-3 6-2 victory over British wildcard George Loffhagen in a rain-delayed match on Wednesday.
The sixth seed became the first Dane to win a match at the All England Club since Kenneth Carlsen in 2004 when he completed victory in a clash that began on Tuesday morning but was suspended because of the weather.
Tuesday's first set was closely fought, with Loffhagen cheered on by a supportive home crowd and showing much more skilful play than his world ranking of 371 would suggest, having climbed from 981st at the end of 2022.
However, Rune's precision and accuracy secured him the first set on a tiebreak before the match was suspended.
After play resumed the next day on Court Three, the 20-year-old Dane saved three break points in the first game of the second set, broke Loffhagen in the next game and held serve to race into a 3-0 lead.
The Briton did get on the scoreboard and clawed some games back with the help of five aces, but Rune was too good, bringing up three set points with a backhand volley and converting straight away.
Loffhagen, who worked in a London pub on a break from the sport before rejoining the men's Tour last year, could not halt Rune's momentum in the third set, netting to surrender a break in the first game.
As the evening drew in, Loffhagen was broken once more and sent a backhand into the net to hand the match to Rune who will face Italy's Matteo Arnaldi or Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round.
"It means a lot... it's cool to come back with good memories, (and I) hope to bring better memories than last year," Rune, who lost in the first round in 2022, said in an on-court interview.
DJOKOVIC PUSHED HARD BY THOMPSON, BUT REACHES THIRD ROUND
Another day, another milestone reached for Novak Djokovic as he racked up Grand Slam victory number 350 by dispatching Australia's Jordan Thompson at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The defending champion was given a thorough workout by Thompson but always looked in control at the crucial moments as he won 6-3 7-6(4) 7-5 to move into the third round.
He joins Roger Federer and Serena Williams as the only players to have reached 350 wins at the Slams, but the 36-year-old has his eyes firmly fixed on higher goals.
Playing with his usual clinical accuracy he eventually subdued Thompson who offered up some thing rare at Wimbledon these days – some serve and volley tennis.
It certainly kept Djokovic honest but the second seeded Serb, bidding to win a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon and fifth in a row, always looked in control.
Thompson, ranked 70, was within two points of levelling the match at the sharp end of the second set but once Djokovic came through the tiebreak with a couple of timely aces thrown in, there was only really likely to be one outcome.
That said, Thompson, given loud backing by the Centre Court crowd desperate to see a contest, refused to slink away.
But serving at 5-6 in the third set the Australian could not keep Djokovic at bay and he netted a volley to end the contest.
TSITSIPAS NEEDS TWO DAYS TO BEAT THIEM IN FIVE SETS
Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas needed almost four hours and five sets over two days to subdue former world No 3 Dominic Thiem of Austria, as he won 3-6 7-6(1) 6-2 6-7(5) 7-6(10-8) on Wednesday to move into the Wimbledon second round.
The 24-year-old Greek, chasing a maiden Grand Slam title, will next play two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.
The match had started on Tuesday on Court Two with Thiem, who in June was getting match practice in the lower-tier Challenger events after an injury, broke Tsitsipas midway through the opener to snatch the first set.
The Austrian's big backhand was again looking more like the weapon it once was rather than the liability it had become since his wrist injury.
Thiem broke the Grand Slam stranglehold of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic by winning the 2020 US Open but injury sidelined him for months on end and his ranking slipped to number 352 in June last year.
Now ranked 91st, Thiem showed no signs of stage fright as he battled against the fifth seed who had beaten him in Madrid earlier this year.
Rain forced play to be suspended and it resumed more than 24 hours later, on Wednesday afternoon, with the world No 6 levelling with a confident tiebreak win and looking sharper than a day earlier.
He did squander five break points at 1-1 in the third set but earned his first break of the match a little later to take control, clinching the third set.
They both refused to buckle in the fourth, taking it into a tiebreak where Thiem prevailed to force a decider.
Thiem had one chance to break at 3-3 but then handed a match point to Tsitsipas a little later with a double fault at 6-5.
He saved another at 9-7 in the tiebreak before the Greek sealed it on the third attempt.
SUBLIME SINNER DOWNS SCHWARTZMAN, BREAKS ARGENTINE HEARTS AGAIN
Jannik Sinner coasted into Wimbledon's third round with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 victory over Diego Schwartzman on Wednesday, as the eighth seed claimed a second Argentine scalp in as many matches.
The 21-year-old, who knocked out Schwartzman's compatriot Francisco Cerundolo earlier this week, was sharp from the outset as he fended off three break points and punished his opponent with vicious forehand winners before breaking late to capture the opening set.
Sinner cruised from there on, using both serve and forehand to devastating effect as he controlled rallies from the baseline and frustrated Schwartzman, winning five straight games as errors crept into the Argentine's game.
Not even a lengthy halt in play to close Court One's roof could impede the Italian's momentum, as he traded breaks early with Schwartzman in the third before seizing the advantage and wrapping up the contest with his 15th ace of the match.
Sinner will next face either Australian Aleksandar Vukic or Frenchman Quentin Halys, but he will have to wait until Thursday to learn the name of his third-round opponent after the pair's match was postponed due to rain.