Wimbledon lost another seed to a positive COVID-19 test on Thursday as former semi-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut pulled out of the tournament.

The Spaniard, who lost in four sets to Novak Djokovic in their 2019 last-four tussle, announced his withdrawal as play got under way on day four at the All England Club.

Bautista Agut wrote on Twitter: "Today I notified @Wimbledon of my withdrawal. I have tested positive for Covid-19. Fortunately, the symptoms are not very serious, but I think it is the best decision. Thank you for your support. I hope to come back soon."

Now aged 34, Bautista Agut was the 17th seed at the championships and had been due to play Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan on Court Three on Thursday afternoon.

Galan receives a walkover into the third round as a result of Bautista Agut's announcement.

The loss of Bautista Agut follows the crushing blow of last year's runner-up Matteo Berrettini having to abandon his Wimbledon mission for the same reason.

Eighth seed Berrettini recently won at Queen's Club for the second straight year and was widely considered a credible challenger to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, but the Italian pulled out ahead of his first-round match on Tuesday.

Croatian Marin Cilic, a former US Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up, also withdrew from the tournament before his opening match after a recent positive test.

Andy Murray's Wimbledon journey has ended in the second round despite a spirited fightback against John Isner in a four-set thriller.

The three-time grand slam champion - two of which have come at SW19 - will not add a fourth to his collection after he was downed by the big-serving American 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 on Centre Court on Wednesday.

Yet the 35-year-old did not go down quietly against the number 20 seed, forcing a tie-break in the third set to prevent a straight-sets win for his opponent before ultimately fading in the fourth.

For Murray, it marks the earliest exit of his Wimbledon career, having previously always reached the third round at senior level.

Despite never dropping more than two games behind Isner across the contest, the Scot was crucially never able to break serve. 

Isner sent down a stunning 36 aces, including three in succession in the final game of the match to put him on the brink of victory, before a neat backhand over the net sealed the deal.

Lesia Tsurenko says she has heard from only a solitary Russian and one Belarusian player who have opposed the invasion of Ukraine after she beat compatriot Anhelina Kalinina to reach the third round at Wimbledon.

The 33-year-old won an all-Ukrainian contest against Kalinina 3-6 6-4 6-3 to set up a clash with Jule Niemeier following the German's upset of second seed Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday.

The pair were cheered on by flag-waving supporters at SW19, while Tsurenko sported a blue-and-yellow.

Tsurenko expressed her disappointment over the lack of vocal opposition from Russian and Belarusian athletes, who are banned from playing at the All England Club, to the war in Ukraine after she moved into round three.

"I would be the first one to say that, no, you should not ban them," she stated.

"But I have heard only from one Belarusian player and from one Russian player, who talked to me personally and told me: ‘I’m against the war.’

"I did not hear anything from any other player. So for me, the silence means … I mean, it's not good when … I don’t know. I thought I had a lot of friends on tour, especially from Russians and Belarusians.

"It’s just a step. [But] it's a good step to show that that's what we all have to do. I am Ukrainian. There is no other opinion in my head."

Novak Djokovic says he will support his former coach Boris Becker and the German's family in any way he can during his time in prison.

Becker was jailed for two-and-half years at the end of April after being found guilty of concealing £2.5million of assets to avoid paying money he owed after his bankruptcy.

The six-time grand slam champion's girlfriend, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, and his son, Noah, were in Djokovic's box on Centre Court for his first and second-round matches at Wimbledon.

Djokovic had Becker in his corner for three years as his coach until the end of 2016.

The legendary Serbian has not been in direct contact with Becker, but vowed after outclassing Thanasi Kokkinakis at SW19 on Wednesday that he will always be there for the 54-year-old and his relatives.

He said during a media conference at the All England Club: "I haven't been communicating directly with him, but I've been communicating to him through them [Becker's family] and I was really glad to have hosted his girlfriend and his son Noah for my first round and now today second-round match.

"Noah and his younger brother, Elias, are going to visit Boris I think in the next few days for the first time since he went to prison and I've been just trying to give support to people around him, his closest people, his family members because I consider Boris as a family member. He's someone that I greatly appreciate, respect and care about.

"We've been through a lot together and during those three years of collaboration and our relationship dates back even before that. After we finished our professional relationship we always stayed close; him with my team, my agents and my family.

"It breaks my heart to see what is happening to him, so this is a little gesture of friendship to invite them. He knows and they now they can always count on me for whatever support or help I can provide."

Emma Raducanu conceded she "didn't have expectations" for her Wimbledon campaign, following a second-round exit after a 6-3 6-3 defeat to Caroline Garcia.

A dominant showing from Garcia saw her hammer 24 winners, win 71 per cent of points played behind her first serve and win 15 of 18 points when she came to the net – with Raducanu unable to muster a response despite being encouraged by the Centre Court crowd.

Doubts were present ahead of the tournament as to whether the 19-year-old would feature given injury issues, which limited her to only seven games before retiring in her only match at the British grass-court events leading up to the event at SW19.

The world number 11 had the hopes of a nation on her shoulders heading into the campaign but, speaking after her straight-sets defeat to Garcia, downplayed the result.

"Obviously it's tough to lose any match. But it's okay because coming into this I didn't really have any expectations of myself," she told a news conference.

Defeat for Raducanu means she has not won successive matches at a grand slam since her victory at the US Open last year, having also fallen at the second-round stage in both the Australian and French Open.

However, she brushed off any suggestion that she's weighed down by pressure, stating: "I am 19 years old. Yes, I have had attention. But I'm a slam champion, so no one's going to take that away from me. If anything, the pressure is on those who haven't done that."

Raducanu had a slow start to the game, with Garcia securing two breaks in the opening set and causing the British number one trouble with her aggressive approach, taking a 6-3 win.

A brilliant rally in game five of the second set again was finished off by Garcia to help her on her way to another break and, despite a swift response from Raducanu for only her second break of the game, took another to take command of the match.

The world no. 55 then broke Raducanu for the third time in a row to secure her seventh consecutive grass victory – which was her first at Wimbledon since 2014 – leading to a memorable first visit to Centre Court.

"I really enjoyed playing on Centre Court, it was my first time and very special," she said after the match.

"You win a couple of matches in a row and I won a title in Germany but you have to start all over again.

"That is what is nice about tennis - we all start from zero and we have to go for it."

Garcia will play Shuai Zhang in the third round. Zhang defeated Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in straight sets earlier on Wednesday.

Ugo Humbert was not entirely prepared for his second-round match with third seed Casper Ruud at Wimbledon but still upset the French Open finalist.

Humbert arrived for Wednesday's contest without his racquets, apologising at the ball toss.

The Frenchman was soon provided with his essential equipment to a round of applause from the crowd but still took some time to get going on Court 2, losing the opener.

Humbert weathered that setback, though, and replied in impressive fashion, emerging a 3-6 6-2 7-5 6-4 winner for his third consecutive victory against top-10 opponents on grass.

"I love to play on grass. I have played a lot of good matches," Humbert said.

"I think about the match last year against [Nick[ Kyrgios. It was a big battle. I won Halle, so I think I play very nice [on grass] because of my serve, and my backhand is very great."

He added: "It is a big victory. [Ruud] played very well the last few years, so I am very happy."

Venus Williams will make her Wimbledon return after the five-time singles champion was granted a wildcard entry for the mixed doubles with Jamie Murray.

The 42-year-old has not played on the WTA Tour since a first-round defeat at the Chicago Open last year due to a leg injury.

However, despite not entering either the women's singles or women's doubles in SW19, Williams was pictured arriving at the championships with a sports bag on Sunday.

And it was confirmed on Wednesday she would be teaming up with Murray, with the pair facing a first-round clash against Alicja Rosolska and Michael Venus on Friday.

Both Williams and Murray have enjoyed mixed doubles success previously at Wimbledon.

Murray is a two-time winner having partnered Jelena Jankovic in 2007 and Martina Hingis in 2017 – beating Michael Venus in the latter final – while Williams reached the final in 2006 alongside Bob Bryan. She has won the women's doubles with sister Serena Williams six times.

This is not the first All England Club partnership between the two hugely successful tennis families either, with Serena and Andy Murray reaching the third round at Wimbledon in 2019.

Last year, Venus bowed out at the second round in the singles following defeat to Ons Jabeur but vowed she would return to SW19 – a promise she has now fulfilled. 

She follows the return of her sister Serena, who suffered a surprise singles defeat in the opening round against Harmony Tan on day two of the tournament.

Harmony Tan's unexpected first-round singles win over Serena Williams at Wimbledon prompted her to quit the doubles tournament, leading to a social media rant from her partner, who suggested she was not cut out for professional tennis.

Tan had entered the doubles draw alongside Tamara Korpatsch, with their first-round match against Raluca Olaru and Nadiia Kichenok set for Wednesday.

But Tan perhaps had not expected to be playing late into Tuesday evening and then to have a second-round singles contest to prepare for against Sara Sorribes Tormo on Thursday.

The Frenchwoman came through an epic back-and-forth on Centre Court to beat seven-time champion Williams – in singles action for the first time in almost a year – 7-5 1-6 7-6 (10-7).

Tan gained little sympathy from Korpatsch, however, with the German out of the singles competition on Monday following a three-set defeat to Heather Watson.

"Unfortunately my doubles partner H. Tan retired from our doubles today," Korpatsch wrote on her Instagram page.

"She just texted me this morning. Let me wait here one hour before the match start.

"I'm very sad, disappointed and also very angry that I can't play my first doubles grand slam. And it's really not fair for me. I didn't deserve that.

"She asked me before the tournament if we wanna play doubles and I said yes, I didn't ask her, she asked me!

"If you're broken after a three-hour match the day before, you can't play professional. That's my opinion."

Korpatsch's frustration continued on her Instagram story, where she had initially revealed the news, suggesting she was capable of playing more than six hours one day and still taking to the court the next.

She later added: "Thanks for all your comments. But I would like to say: I don't hate my doubles partner for withdrawing. I just want to share my feelings and opinion about my situation.

"If I'm still competing in singles, I would still feel and do the same. I wanted to play my first doubles grand slam. That was my chance.

"Yesterday she [Tan] was so motivated to me, and I was happy about our doubles.

"But just today in the morning getting this message feels very painful. It's not a WTA tournament, which I can play almost every week. It's a grand slam."

Defending champion Novak Djokovic outclassed Thanasi Kokkinakis in a domineering straight-sets victory to march into the third round at Wimbledon.

The top seed moved majestically as he made a statement on Centre Court, winning 6-1 6-4 6-2 in just two hours on Wednesday.

Djokovic breezed into a 3-0 lead in an opening set he served out to love after breaking for a second time, returning majestically as he dominated the Australian.

The 20-time grand slam champion needed just the one early break in the second set as he served superbly and was ruthless at the net, while also bossing rallies from the back of the court.

World number three Djokovic was relentless as he broke twice in a one-sided third set before ending the match with a hold after saving the only break point he faced.

Six-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic will face fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in round three at the All England Club.

Data slam: Djokovic near flawless as he extends winning run to 23

That is 23 wins in a row at the grass-court grand slam for three-time defending champion Djokovic.

The tournament favourite dropped a set in his win over Kwon Soon-woo on Monday, but barely put a foot wrong two days later.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic – 29/14
Kokkinakis – 31/23

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Djokovic – 1/3
Kokkinakis – 11/5

BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic – 5/13
Kokkinakis – 0/1

Jule Niemeier claimed the biggest scalp of her career by knocking second seed Anett Kontaveit out of Wimbledon with an emphatic straight-sets win on Wednesday.

Playing her first match against a top-10 player, world number 97 Niemeier moved into the third round with a 6-4 6-0 victory on No.1 Court.

Kontaveit did not earn a solitary break point as she made another early grand slam exit after falling in the first round at the French Open.

The number-three ranked Estonian, who was knocked out of Wimbledon in the opening round last year, has been suffering from the after-effects of coronavirus over the past couple of months.

German outsider Niemeier was beaten in her first main-draw grand slam match at the French Open last month, but took just 58 minutes to set up a third-round meeting with Anhelina Kalinina or Lesia Tsurenko.

The 22-year-old became the lowest-ranked female player to win a main-draw match at the All England Club against a top-three opponent since Jana Cepelova's defeat of Garbine Muguruza in 2016.

Serena Williams "gave all I could" in an epic first-round Wimbledon defeat to Harmony Tan and could not assure fans she would be back on Centre Court again.

Williams is a seven-time Wimbledon champion – only Martina Navratilova has won the championships on more occasions in the Open Era – but her last championship victory came back in 2016.

There have been two final appearances since then but also now consecutive first-round exits, having retired with a hamstring tear against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in 2021; previously in her remarkable career, Williams had fallen at the final hurdle only once at any major.

Tuesday's battle with Tan was her first singles match since that injury, and Williams certainly did not lack spirit, recovering from losing the first set to dominate the second and then take control of the third, too.

Twice in the decider she led by a break, attempting to serve for the match at 5-4, only to be broken back.

Williams was then required to hold serve – and fend off a match point – to reach a tie-break, in which she led 4-0.

But Tan reeled off the next five points and eventually prevailed 7-5 1-6 7-6 (10-7) from the sort of titanic tussle Williams – now 40 and "really suffering" by the end – may not see again.

"That's a question I can't answer," she replied when asked if this was her last Wimbledon appearance. "I don't know. Who knows where I'll pop up?"

Williams "obviously" did not want this to be her lasting memory of the grass-court major. "You know me," she said. "Definitely not."

But the American added: "I gave all I could do. Maybe tomorrow I could have given more. Maybe a week ago I could have given more. But today was what I could do.

"At some point, you have to be able to be okay with that."

However, while her Wimbledon future is clearly in doubt, Williams appeared to suggest a US Open tilt later this year was highly likely.

"When you're at home, especially in New York and that being the place I first won a grand slam, it is always special," she said.

"There's always motivation to get better and play at home."

Serena Williams' hopes of a winning a record-equalling 24th grand slam title at Wimbledon are over after she was beaten by the unheralded Harmony Tan in an epic first-round match.

Williams went down 7-5 1-6 7-6 (10-7) on Centre Court in her first singles match since being forced to withdraw in the opening round of last year's tournament at the All England Club, when she suffered a hamstring injury during a contest with Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion's much-heralded comeback proved to be an almighty battle and it was the SW19 debutant from France who came out on top late on Tuesday evening.

It took outsider Tan three hours and 11 minutes to claim a huge scalp, winning what could prove to be the great Williams' final singles match at Wimbledon.

Tan broke three times in a back-and-forth first set, with Williams unable to keep her at bay during the seventh game despite the world number 115 seeing three break points come and go before winning the fourth.

The underdog's slice in particular proved to be difficult for the 40-year-old - 16 years senior to her opponent - to counter, and the former world number one seemed to need the break afforded by the roof closure on Centre Court to regather herself.

Williams stamped her authority on the match in the second set to force a decider, breaking twice as she surged into a 5-0 lead before serving it out.

Tan refused to be beaten in the final set, twice breaking back to frustrate Williams. 

Williams was able to force a tie-break after saving a match point, and surged into a 4-0 lead - but Tan rallied once more to seize back the momentum, and celebrated a famous win after her legendary opponent netted a forehand.

Data slam: Agony for battling Williams

Williams declared that she would not have competed at Wimbledon if she did not feel she was capable of winning the tournament, but she fell at the first hurdle in a thriller.

In what was her 420th grand slam match, the veteran played her first final-set tie-break and looked destined to come out on top before Tan roared back. Victory for Tan ensured Williams remains one major crown shy of the record held by Margaret Court.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Tan– 29/28
Williams – 61/54

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Tan – 3/3
Williams – 5/3

BREAK POINTS WON
Tan – 5/15
Williams – 6/17

Harmony Tan admitted she feared the prospect of facing a 23-time grand slam winner after defeating Serena Williams at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

It took Tan three hours and 11 minutes to claim the scalp of the seven-time Wimbledon winner, eventually winning the match 7-5 1-6 7-6 (10-7).

The SW19 debutant twice broke back in the third set, even setting up a match point which Williams saved before the eventual tie-break, and rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the tie-break to emerge victorious.

Despite the resolve shown and delight with the win on Centre Court at the All England Club, the 24-year-old revealed she nervously came into the contest.

"[Serena] is a superstar and when I was young I was watching her so many times on the TV," Tan said post-match. "For my first Wimbledon, it's wow. Just wow.

"When I saw the draw, I was really scared. Because, yeah, it's Serena Williams. She's a legend and I was like, 'Oh my God, how can I play?' If I could win one game or two games, it was really good for me.

"I would like to thank everybody today and my team and my coach Nathalie Tauziat, who also played Serena. Thank you so much for being with me."

Tan will now face 32nd seed Sara Sorribes Tormo, who defeated American qualifier Christina McHale 6-2 6-1.

Nick Kyrgios emerged victorious from an opening-round five-setter against British wildcard Paul Jubb at Wimbledon on Tuesday but controversy again followed, with the Australian blasting the "disrespect" he feels he receives.

The 27-year-old defeated Jubb 3-6 6-1 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 and hit 67 winners but after a drama-filled three hours and five minutes, his prompting of a line judge to speak to the chair umpire and demands for some fans to be removed were punctuated by spitting towards a section of the crowd upon victory.

Earlier this month, tournament organisers in Stuttgart investigated when Kyrgios claimed he was racially abused by sections of the crowd during a match.

At his post-match news conference, Kyrgios jousted with journalists on the capacity of older line judges to make accurate calls, but primarily focused on the perceived normality of on and off-court abuse.

"A lot of disrespect was being thrown today from the crowds," he said. "I’m just starting to think that it’s normal when it’s really not.

"I didn’t say anything to the crowd until they started just every time I came down to the far end, people just going. It’s just I don’t know if it’s normal or not.

"Just pure disrespect, just anything. Someone just yelled out I was s**t in the crowd today. Is that normal? No. I just don’t understand why it’s happening over and over again.

"Have you ever gone to a supermarket and just started berating someone scanning the groceries? No. So why do they do it when I’m at Wimbledon? Why is that?"

In a testy news conference, Kyrgios was himself accused of lacking respect, but he lamented over not being able to respond to the abuse he receives on the court without some kind of punishment.

The world number 40 insisted he has no regrets on spitting towards an unruly fan after his win.

"Today, as soon as I won the match, I turned to him," Kyrgios said. "I’ve been dealing with hate and negativity for a long time, so I don’t feel like I owed that person anything.

"Like, he literally came to the match to literally just, like, not even support anyone really. It was more just to, like, stir up and disrespect. That’s fine. But if I give it back to you, then that’s just how it is.

"There’s a fence there and I physically can’t do anything or say anything because I’ll get in trouble. They’re able to say anything they want."

Alize Cornet claims several players contracted COVID-19 at last month's French Open, but kept the outbreak quiet in order to avoid mass withdrawals from the tournament.

Wimbledon has already been rocked by two high-profile male players withdrawing after testing positive for the virus, with last year's runner-up Matteo Berrettini and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic both pulling out ahead of scheduled first-round matches on Tuesday.

Now Cornet, who equalled Ai Sugiyama's all-time record of 62 consecutive grand slam main-draw appearances in a win over Yulia Putintseva on day two, claims there were cases at Roland Garros that did not come to light.

"At Roland Garros, there was a Covid epidemic, no one talked about it. In the locker room, everyone got it and we said nothing," she told L'Equipe.

"When it comes out in the press, with big players, it will start to set fire to the lake everywhere and that worries me a little.

"[2021 French Open winner Barbora] Krejcikova withdrew saying she had Covid, and the whole locker room was sick. 

"At some point, we all might have had the flu. The thing is, we have the symptoms, itchy throat… we play and everything is fine, it's fine. 

"At Roland, I think there have been a few cases and it's a tacit agreement between us. We are not going to self-test to get into trouble! 

"Afterwards, I saw girls wearing masks, maybe because they knew and didn't want to pass it on. You also have to have a civic spirit."