Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Raducanu, Aryna Sabalenka, Naomi Osaka, and Madison Keys Secure Victories at Wimbledon

Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka and the end of London's heatwave have seen a sense of normality return to the lawns of Wimbledon after two sweat-soaked days of shocks.

A stream of big names including Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev crashed and burned in the oven-like temperatures of the first round.

So when Alcaraz walked on Centre Court on Wednesday to continue his quest for a third successive title against British qualifier Oliver Tarvet, the thought surely lurked somewhere in his mind that he could be the fall guy in the tournament's greatest upset.

The 22-year-old second seed was not at his best but, after saving three break points in a nervy opening service game against a college student ranked 733rd in the world, he asserted his authority to win 6-1, 6-,4, 6-4.

Alcaraz, bidding to do the French Open-Wimbledon double for the second successive year, needed five sets to get past Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in the first round and set up an intriguing clash with 21-year-old Tarvet.

Tarvet, who plays on the US collegiate circuit for the University of San Diego, said he believed he could beat anyone, even Alcaraz, after winning his grand slam debut match against fellow qualifier Leandro Riedi of Switzerland on Monday.

He was clearly not overawed at sharing a court with a five-time grand slam champion and, had he taken any of the eight break points he earned in the first set, it could have been closer.

Alcaraz proved a step too far though as he moved through the gears when required to keep an eager Tarvet under control.

\"First of all, I have to give a big congratulations to Oliver,\" Alcaraz said.

\"It's his second match on the tour. I just loved his game, to be honest, the level he played.\"

Earlier on Centre Court, women's top seed Sabalenka battled to a 7-6(4), 6-4 win against Czech Marie Bouzková.

\"Honestly, it is sad to see so many upsets in the tournament, in both draws, women's and men's,\" Sabalenka, who is seeking her first Wimbledon title, said.

\"Honestly, I'm just trying to focus on myself.\"

Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the sixth seed, also made it safely into round three, beating Olga Danilović 6-4, 6-2, while unseeded four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka eased past Czech doubles specialist Kateřina Siniaková 6-3, 6-2.

Lower temperatures did not mean an end to the surprises entirely though. American world number 12 Frances Tiafoe became the 14th of the 32 men's seeds to depart, going down 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 to Cameron Norrie, one of seven British players in second-round singles action on day three.

Women's fourth seed Jasmine Paolini was upset by world number 62 Kamilla Rakhimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Sonay Kartal led the home charge by beating Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova 6-2, 6-2 to book her place in the last 32 for the second year in succession.

There was disappointment, though, for Britain's Katie Boulter, who served 14 double faults as she went down 6-7(9), 6-2, 6-1 to 101st-ranked Solana Sierra, the Argentine who lost in qualifying but seized her lucky loser spot with both hands.

Emma Raducanu played some of her most clinical tennis since her US Open title run to sweep aside 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 and reach the third round.

In front of a raucous crowd, Raducanu surprised even herself sometimes in outduelling the Czech player in a match between grand slam winners who were both unseeded.

\"That was one of the best matches I've played in a long time,\" said Raducanu, the 2021 champion at Flushing Meadows.

\"I turned one point around that I think is probably the best point I've ever played, so that was pretty crazy. I think the crowd were loving it.\"

She may have to up her level even further in the next match, though. In a tournament where four of the five top women's seeds have already been eliminated, the British home favourite will be up against the only one remaining — Aryna Sabalenka.

\"Yeah, I guess there's no pressure at all on me the next round,\" Raducanu said in an on-court interview, laughing.

There's always pressure on Raducanu playing at Wimbledon, especially after she became the first British woman since 1977 to capture a grand slam title when she won the US Open as a qualifier.

She struggled with injuries and form after that, and her fourth-round showing at Wimbledon last year is her best result in a major since.

But her win against Vondrousova, who in 2019 was the French Open runner-up, showed Raducanu might be back to her best.

\"She was playing amazing tennis,\" Vondrousova said.

\"She was crushing me in the rallies, so there wasn't much I could do.\"

Raducanu seemed pretty impressed with her own performance as well.

\"I think today I played really, really well,\" she said.

\"I knew today I had to be aggressive because Marketa would beat me if I was going to push the ball around.\"