Wimbledon’s battle of the Brits! Katie Boulter enjoys 1-0 lead over Harriet Dart – while Jacob Fearnley fights back from one set down against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic… as Andy Murray begins ‘farewell tour’ of SW19

The Battle of the Brits is underway at Wimbledon today as Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart go head-to-head on Court One, while tennis legend Andy Murray steps onto the double’s court as he begins his farewell to SW19.

Alongside his brother Jamie, in what will be the first time the siblings have paired up for a Grand Slam, Murray will take to Centre Court, as the veteran player vows this will be his last ever Wimbledon.

British number one Boulter is already one set up on Dart, who ranks second, in what is their fourth clash over the past two years.  

Meanwhile British wildcard Jacob Fearnley, who was ranked outside the world’s top 500 ahead of the tournament, is one set down as he goes face-to-face with seven-time world champion Novak Djokovic.

The 22-year-old Scot only qualified for the Nottingham Open at the start of last month, admitted that ‘it was getting in [his] head a little bit’ that he was going to have take on the Serbian legend. 

This afternoon, more British athletes will face each other on court, with 22-year-old Jack Draper will take on South African born Brit Cameron Norrie to battle it out to get a place in the third round. 

The Battle of the Brits is underway: Katie Boulter in action during her Women’s 2nd round match against Harriet Dart

Andy Murray steps onto the double’s court as he begins his farewell to SW19

Crowds at Wimbledon enjoying the sun as the players compete to make it to the third round

Boulter and Dart are used to playing each other, with the number one winning three of the four matches, two of them coming on grass in Nottingham.

Dart’s only victory over her rival came six years ago in Japan but Boulter expects Thursday’s clash to be a big challenge.

She said: ‘Playing a Brit in the UK on the grass is never an easy draw and I’m expecting an absolute battle. I think we both know each other’s games inside-out, back-to-front at this point. We’ve played so many matches.’

Following that match, it is the men’s turn as Jack Draper, the British number one, faces the man he replaced at the top of the country’s rankings last month – Cameron Norrie.

Draper has never reached the third round in his two previous appearances at his home grand slam while Norrie was a semi-finalist in 2022 but came into this year’s tournament out of form.

The pair get on well together but Draper says Norrie ‘won’t like the fact that I’m number one’, while the British number two – who has won both of the meetings between them – has piled the pressure on his younger opponent by labelling him the favourite.

Harriet Dart following her victory against Zhuoxuan Bai on day two of the competition 

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Cameron Norrie celebrates winning his first round match against Argentina’s Facundo Diaz

Jack Draper celebrates winning the Men’s 1st round match against Elias Ymer of Sweden

Katie Boulter leaving a training session ahead of her match against Harriet Dart on Court One

Jacob Fearnley’s reward for his impressive win on his Wimbledon debut is a Centre Court date with 24-time grand-slam champion Novak Djokovic.

He will be the sixth British player to face Djokovic at the Championships, with Andy Murray the only one to beat him.

But he could take some inspiration from the fact Norrie, Draper and Kyle Edmund all took a set off the Serbian before losing.

Lily Miyazaki, who was scheduled to play on Wednesday, will hope to finally get her second-round clash with 14th seed Daria Kasatkina under way.