Full order of play for Middle Sunday, start time and how to watch in UK

2023-07-09Last Updated: 2023-07-09

183 3 minutes read

WIMBLEDON — The balance of power in world tennis will never be clearer than in on Middle Sunday at Wimbledon, when Centre Court will have a distinctly Eastern European flavour.

Belinda Bencic, born in the small Swiss town of Flawil, is the only one who will not be representing a Slavic country, and in fact her father’s family emigrated from Czechoslovakia in the 1960s.

The other five players gracing Centre have more recently Slavic claims: both Andrey Rublev and Alexander Bublik were born in Russia, Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz hail from Poland, and Novak Djokovic is perhaps the world’s most famous Serb.

It is partly just a wrinkle of scheduling that all these players have ended up top of the bill on Sunday, although expect to see some ambassadorial faces in the Royal Box as a result, but it is also a reflection of tennis’s enduring success in the region where Slavic languages are spoken, which spans from the Balkan states all the way to Kazakhstan.

Slavs make up eight of the world’s top 20 players across the men’s and women’s game, and the depth is there too: the Czech Republic alone have 13 women ranked inside the top 200. In men’s tennis, there is greater representation from the Americas and Western Europe, but the likes of Russia, with four men in the top 50, ensure there is still a Slavic slant.

Ones to watch

Hubert Hurkacz has never beaten Novak Djokovic in five attempts and there is no reason for that to change now as the reigning champion continues what is expected to be an inexorable march to another final.

Djokovic has won every match in straight sets so far.

There is a little more jeopardy for world No 1 Iga Swiatek, who looks increasingly comfortable on grass but faces her sternest test of this slam yet when she takes on No 14 seed Belinda Bencic.

Bencic is looking to reach her first quarter-final and got here by beating Britain’s Katie Swan and USA’s Danielle Collins.

Jannik Sinner won’t be expecting an easy ride either but should be in for a comfortable victory over Daniel Elahi Galan. The Colombian has already piled more misery on Oscar Otte and beaten Swedish No 1 Mikael Ymer but Sinner will almost certainly be a step too far.

How to watch Wimbledon 2023

As is tradition, the BBC will show every match played at Wimbledon over the course of the next fortnight.

The tournament runs from Monday 3 July to Sunday 16 July and play will start at 11am most days, with coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

Multi-court coverage is also available to stream via BBC iPlayer, the red button, the BBC Sport website and app.

As for the highlights they can be found every evening on BBC Two and all of the above platforms from 8.30pm onwards.

Upsetwatch

It would hardly be the shock of the century but Centre Court could begin the day at 1.30pm with an upset if Andrey Rublev falls to Alexander Bublik, just as he did in the final of the Halle Open. Rublev has won seven of his last eight matches but not always convincingly and needed a couple of tense tie-breaks to get past David Goffin. Bublik may struggle to contain his serve and lacks consistency but it’s not exactly as kind a draw as Rublek would have liked.

Elsewhere Marie Bouzkova is probably the most high-profile of the women’s seeds at risk. She takes on Marketa Vondrousova, who has already produced two significant upsets, defeating Veronika Kudermetova and Donna Vekic.

Brits in action?

The short answer is no, in the singles at least. They have been steadily tumbling with the likes of Heather Watson and Arthur Fery exiting in the first round. Jodie Burrage made it one further but Andy Murray and British No 1 Cameron Norrie then both fell on Friday.

That left Katie Boulter as the last home hopeful standing before she was beaten by Elena Rybakina last night. So the Wimbledon crowd can’t afford to be too partisan, as there are now no Brits left.

Order of play

Centre Court (1.30pm)

(7) Andrey Rublev (Rus) vs Alexander Bublik (Kaz)
(1) Iga Swiatek (Pol) vs (14) Belinda Bencic (Swi)
(17) Hubert Hurkacz (Pol) vs (2) Novak Djokovic (Ser)

No 1 Court (1pm)

(4) Jessica Pegula (USA) vs Lesia Tsurenko (Ukr)
(8) Jannik Sinner (Ita) vs Daniel Elahi Galan (Col)
(19) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) vs Elina Svitolina (Ukr)

No 2 Court (11am)

Marketa Vondrousova (Cze) vs (32) Marie Bouzkova (Cze)
Not before 12.30pm, to finish: (21) Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) leads (10) Frances Tiafoe (USA) 6-2, 6-3, 1-2
Roman Safiullin (Rus) vs (26) Denis Shapovalov (Can)

No 3 Court