Murray And Konta Targeting Wimbledon Quarter-Finals On Manic Monday

Murray And Konta Targeting Wimbledon Quarter-Finals On Manic Monday

Britain's Andy Murray and Johanna Konta will fight to reach Wimbledon's quarter-finals on Manic Monday - one of the most hotly anticipated days of the tournament.

Defending champion and world number one Murray will play second on Centre Court, taking on Frenchman Benoit Paire, who has made it through to the final 16 for the first time.

Konta is up first on Court One, where she will need to beat France's Caroline Garcia to reach the next stage of the competition.

The bookmakers' favourite is the first British woman through to the fourth round of the singles at Wimbledon since Laura Robson in 2013, and only the third to reach the last 16 since 1985.

The second Monday of Wimbledon promises a thrilling day of tennis for fans flocking to SW19, with the last 16 men and women in the singles draw all scheduled to play.

Crowd-pleasers Marcus Willis and Jay Clarke, who are competing in their second tournament together, are set to play in the next round of the men's doubles.

The British pair caused an upset when they knocked out defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Saturday, watched by a raucous crowd.

Tennis heavyweights Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are among those battling for a place in the men's singles quarter-finals.

Federer will play Grigor Dimitrov third on Centre Court, Nadal will take on Gilles Muller second on Court One, before Djokovic faces Adrian Mannarino on the same court.

Venus Williams, the only major champion left in the women's draw, will hope to take one step closer to the Wimbledon title when she plays Croatia's Ana Konjuh first on Centre Court.

It will be a sunny and dry start for SW19 but rain could disrupt afternoon play, the Met Office said.

A spokesman said: "Showers are expected to be fairly isolated in the south-west London area, therefore there is unlikely to be frequent interruptions and it is possible that we could miss the showers altogether.

"Conversely, there is an outside chance of catching a heavy shower with a very low risk of thunder and lightening."

Any rain is expected to clear this evening and a bright and sunny end to the day is expected.

Spectators will continue to enjoy warm weather, with highs of 26C (79F) forecast.

Long-time British number one Roger Taylor will be among those taking a seat in the Royal Box, where he could see his 44-year record broken.

If both Murray and Konta win, it will be the first time a British man and woman have reached the final eight at Wimbledon since 1973 when Taylor and Virginia Wade made it through to the quarter-finals.

Olympic rowing champions Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent will also be watching the action on Centre Court, along with actress Joely Richardson, former world tennis number one Billie Jean King, sailor Sir Ben Ainslie and boxers Carl Froch and David Haye.

As play on Manic Monday began, Richard Lewis, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said: "I think it's a great day.

"A former player said to me they think it's the best day in the tennis annual calendar, because there are so many great matches.

"The fans are really spoilt for choice."

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