Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic will need to muster all of his powers of recovery on Saturday Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

KEY POINTS

  • Three-time winner Djokovic trailed Sam Querrey 2-0 before final rain delay at the All-England Club.
  • Both Williams sisters fought hard to beat Christina McHale and Daria Kasatkina respectively.
  • Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka eliminated by injury-plagued Juan Martin del Potro in four sets.
  • Britain's Dan Evans and Tara Moore beaten by Roger Federer and Svetlana Kuznetosova.
  • Tournament organisers confirm there will be play on middle Sunday for the first time since 2004.

Novak Djokovic stands on the brink of a possible shock early exit from the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. The 12-time Grand Slam champion, who is bidding to claim his third consecutive title at SW19 and also won the first two majors of the year in Melbourne and Paris, will resume his third-round clash with Sam Querrey on Saturday (2 July) trailing by two sets to love after being rescued by a final rainstorm that saw all play on outside courts suspended shortly after 20.00 BST.

Both Williams sisters rallied from going a break down in deciding sets earlier in the day, with Serena recovering from an early deficit to overcome Christina McHale 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 in an entertaining clash that saw the defending champion smash her racket in frustration. Venus, meanwhile, eventually defeated 19-year-old Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 after a number of delays including one when she held a second match point. The American was playing on court one after controversially being exiled to 18 for her second-round win over qualifier Maria Sakkari yesterday.

Stan Wawrinka was the biggest casualty of the afternoon, with the men's fourth seed exiting with a four-set loss to Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine, who won the US Open back in 2009 and also reached the semis at Wimbledon in 2013, was making his first appearance at the All-England Club for three years after another serious wrist injury. His world ranking has plummeted to 165 in that time.

Nick Kyrgios emerged victorious from an exciting clash of styles with Dustin Brown. The persistently controversial Australian again lost his cool as the match raced towards a fifth set in just one hour and 40 minutes, but eventually stood firm to advance 6-7, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. There were also victories for Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Feliciano Lopez and Lucas Pouille. Roger Federer breezed past Dan Evans in straight sets in the final match on centre.

Britain have no more players left in the women's singles after Tara Moore was toppled by 10th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Annika Beck, Carla Suarez Navarro and Barbora Strycova are safely through. Three second-round ties between Sloane Stephens-Mandy Minella, Timea Bacsinszky-Monica Niculescu and Petra Kvitova-Ekaterina Makarova are still yet to be completed.

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After poor weather conditions wreaked havoc with the schedule once again, tournament organisers have now confirmed that there will indeed be play on middle Sunday for the first time since 2004 and only the fourth time in history.