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No.4 seed Casper Ruud has tumbled out of Wimbledon, shocked by British outsider Liam Broady, as Stan Wawrinka and Alexander Zverev also progressed.
British journeyman Liam Broady has sent Centre Court into raptures with a stunning defeat of world No.4 Casper Ruud at Wimbledon, while local hero Andy Murray moved to within one set of ousting Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Fans at the showpiece court got their money's worth on Thursday when the 36-year-old Murray led Tsitsipas 6-7 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 when play was stopped with the evening curfew looming.
The three-time grand slam champion and twice Wimbledon king rolled back the years to go toe-to-toe with the Greek in a match of supreme quality - just what the tournament required after a soggy start.
Ruud, who was in the French Open final three weeks ago, went down 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-0 to the world No.142 in three hours, 27 minutes.
Norwegian Ruud has never looked comfortable at Wimbledon, winning once in three previous appearances in SW19. He has, however, reached three grand slam finals in 14 months and this was by a distance the biggest win of Broady's career.
"When I went to bed last night, I had a think about what I would say if I won and now I don't know what to say!" the 29-year-old said.
"It was a pretty terrifying, exhilarating experience coming out at Centre Court on Wimbledon, but it's been my dream since I was five years old."
"I said to my mum this morning, she doesn't like watching, I've already won PS80,000 ($A152,000) this week so she can chill out."
Since losing to Novak Djokovic in Paris, Ruud has been clay pigeon shooting, playing golf and soaking up the sun on a boat. And it showed.
Three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka turned back the clock, defeating seeded Argentine Tomas Etcheverry to set up a first grass-court meeting with Novak Djokovic.
The 38-year-old defeated the No.29 seed, 15 years his junior, in four sets as Wimbledon finally enjoyed a sunny day.
It is the first time Wawrinka has reached a grand slam third round for three years. "It's a long time that I didn't win too much at grand slams," the Swiss said. "I've been working hard to get back to a better level and I'm happy with the way I'm coming up."
Wawrinka, who won every major except Wimbledon, has beaten Djokovic six times in 26 meetings, including the 2015 French Open final and 2016 US Open final.
He said of facing the defending champion on Centre Court on Friday, "I'll enjoy it if I don't get killed. It's a big challenge but hopefully I can come to a higher level and be competitive."
A trio of Italians won, though one knocked out a compatriot. Eighth seed Jannik Sinner coasted into the third round with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 victory over Diego Schwartzman, while Lorenzo Musetti, seeded 14, outclassed Spain's Jaume Munar 6-4 6-3 6-1 to set up a third-round clash against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.
Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 runner-up, recovered from a slow start to beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 in a match which had begun on Tuesday.
Berrettini, who arrived at Wimbledon undercooked having not played much due to injury, now meets Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur.
Alexander Zverev, who finally got a chance to play his first-round match on the fourth day of the tournament, moved into the second round with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) victory over Dutchman Gijs Brouwer.
The 19th seed Zverev, a former world No.2, suffered a bad ankle injury at the 2022 French Open.
"I missed it last year so just to be on this court I'm happy to be here with 10,000 people," he said.
"I play again tomorrow and the day after, well if I win of course. It's going to be a tough few days with back-to-back matches and it is never easy physically - I'm just happy to be playing tennis now," Zverev said.
Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev and American tenth seed Frances Tiafoe advanced to the third round but ninth seed Taylor Fritz lost to Sweden's Mikael Ymer.
with Agencies
