Team News

Stefanos Tsitsipas says a row with Andy Murray over bathroom breaks is “forgotten” as he prepares to take on the Briton at Wimbledon on Thursday.

The Centre Court contest is a rematch of their feisty 2021 US Open encounter where Murray was angered by the Greek having an eight-minute toilet break.

“I think it has been settled already a long time ago,” Tsitsipas said.

British women’s number one Katie Boulter plays a day after a protester interrupted her previous match.

Compatriots Liam Broady and Jan Choinski are also in action on day four, while Elena Rybakina will continue her title defence.

Murray and Tsitsipas follow Rybakina’s match against French world number 74 Alize Cornet on Centre Court.

In the first round of the US Open two years ago, Murray, 36, lost in five sets to Tsitsipas after the Greek took a lengthy bathroom break before the deciding set.

Murray said after the match the incident was “a joke” and that he had “lost a lot of respect” for his opponent.

Tsitsipas, who lost to Murray last year in Stuttgart in their only other encounter, said after his opening-round win at Wimbledon the matter was over.

“We had to play Laver Cup together in the same team. I’ve forgotten about it. He has forgotten about it,” the fifth seed said.

At that time, Murray was ranked 112th in the world and still recovering from serious hip injury that left him facing retirement but he has since broken back into the world’s top 50 and had a positive build-up on grass.

“He’s someone that I respect,” said Tsitsipas. “He has done great things in tennis. I’m looking forward to this match. That court over there is almost like his living room.”

Murray has had an extra day to prepare than Tsitsipas, having beaten compatriot Ryan Peniston on Centre Court on Tuesday, while Tsitsipas was taken to five sets by Austrian Dominic Thiem in a match played over two days after rain delayed the conclusion until Wednesday evening.

Tsitsipas did, however, add his body was feeling fine after the match.

“My body feels good. I know it was a five-setter, but I feel like there isn’t any soreness or any major fatigue on my body right now,” he said.

On Friday it will be the 10-year anniversary since Murray beat Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon for the first time and it is an occasion Tsitsipas, who was 14 at the time, remembers well.

“A few years ago I witnessed his first Wimbledon title and thinking about it now gives me goosebumps, I felt what he went through, and every time I watch that moment it gives me shivers all over my body,” he said.

Before Murray’s match on Thursday, fellow Briton Broady will face a tough challenge in the form of Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud, who reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2021.

Boulter faces Viktoriya Tomova for place in the third round, while Choinski continues his surprise run at the All England Club with tricky opposition in the form of Polish top-20 player Hubert Hurkacz.

Men’s third seed Daniil Medvedev takes on Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Court Two in the second round, while German 19th seed Alexander Zverev will only be playing his first-round match after his encounter Dutch player Gijs Brouwer was postponed two days in a row.

Following the cancellation of all play on the outdoor courts on Tuesday, Wednesday was once again hit by rain delays with a daunting 87 scheduled matches to get through.

Play got under way at around 12:30 BST and, but for one 30-minute blip around two hours later, continued throughout the day.

However, several players still saw their matches incomplete or chalked off the order of play with 56 of the scheduled matches seen through to their conclusion and 31 cancelled.

The weather forecast shows much better conditions on Thursday with no rain scheduled and organisers will hope they can get the tournament fully up to speed.

The doubles will also get under way with Britain’s Jamie Murray and New Zealand partner Michael Venus in action in the men’s, while fellow Britons Jodie Burrage and Emily Appleton team up in the women’s doubles.

Forest Green Rovers have named Hannah Dingley as their new caretaker boss, making her the first woman to manage a professional men’s team in English football.

The League Two side sacked Duncan Ferguson on Tuesday after just six months in charge.

Forest Green announced Dingley, the club’s academy head, would be put in caretaker charge of the first team.

Her first match in charge will be a friendly at Melksham Town on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old said: “I’m really excited for this next step of my career. Pre-season has just begun, and the full season kicks off very soon.

“It’s an exciting time in football. I am grateful for the opportunity to step up and lead such a progressive and forward-thinking club.”

She first joined the club in 2019 to take charge of the academy and remains the only woman to manage a men’s English Football League academy.

Dingley, who was born and raised in Carmarthenshire, also initiated the club’s girls academy which launched in 2021.

She has a Uefa Pro Licence and previously worked at Burton Albion.

“Hannah was the natural choice for us to be first team interim head coach – she’s done a fantastic job leading our academy and is well aligned with the values of the club,” club chairman Dale Vince said

“It’s perhaps telling for the men’s game that in making this appointment on merit, we’ll break new ground – and Hannah will be the first female head coach in English [men’s] football.”

‘More than capable of coaching at a men’s level’

Dingley spoke to BBC Points West in March about breaking down barriers in the sport.

“You’ve got a responsibility as the first to open the doors for others and to encourage others,” she said.

“You always say if you don’t see it, you’re probably not going to be it. The fact that I do this I hope it encourages more females to come into coaching, into football, into different roles. I feel a great responsibility to talk about that.”

She said at the time that she did not think it would be long until a woman took charge of a men’s professional team.

“It will come in sooner than you think,” Dingley said. “The success that the Lionesses are having, that Emma Hayes is having at Chelsea.

“There are others, really good female coaches out there who I have more than faith in would be more than capable of coaching at a men’s level.”

Carlo Ancelotti will be the new coach of the Brazilian national football team starting in 2024. This has been confirmed by the president of the Brazilian Football Federation, Ednaldo Rodrigues.

Ancelotti is currently the coach of Real Madrid and his contract expires in June 2024. The Italian technician will take over as coach of Brazil from the Copa America, which will be played in the summer of 2024 in the USA. Until then, the national team will be temporarily led by Fernando Diniz.

The former Milan and Chelsea coach will become the first foreigner to coach Brazil in nearly sixty years. Brazil’s last foreign coach was Argentine Filpo Nunez, who led the national team for one game in 1965.