Wimbledon: Heather Watson into third round but Alastair Gray beaten

Wimbledon: Heather Watson into third round but Alastair Gray beaten
_125709233_heather_watson_pa.jpgHeather Watson has reached the Wimbledon third round on three previous occasionsVenue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 JulyCoverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app.

Heather Watson matched her best Wimbledon singles performance by beating Wang Qiang to reach the third round.

The 30-year-old needed only one game to wrap up a 7-5 6-4 victory in a match halted by darkness on Wednesday.

Watson, who has played in singles every day of the tournament and only had four hours' sleep on Wednesday night, will face Slovenian Kaja Juvan on Friday.

"I woke up not feeling great this morning," the world number 121 said.

"It's been a really tough few days for me with the scheduling. It's not been on my side at all.

"I've just tried to do the best I could. In every situation try to stay positive and in the moment. I feel like I've handled it really well.

"I think I actually might go back for a nap before doubles because they've scheduled me not before 18:00 tonight, and I'll have singles again tomorrow."

Watson, who said she had to take a caffeine gel before playing on Wednesday which had then affected her sleep, plays alongside fellow Briton Harriet Dart in their women's doubles opener against Emina Bektas and Kristína Kucova.

In the men's singles, fellow Briton Alastair Gray lost to Taylor Fritz.

The 24-year-old served for the second set but was eventually beaten 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 by the American 11th seed.

Gray saved two set points in the second-tie-break and thought he had saved a third, running away in celebration after stretching for a forehand volley, but a diving Fritz managed to get to the ball and send it back over the net.

Fritz, 24, will face Slovakia's Alex Molcan in the third round.

There are four other Britons playing in the singles on Thursday, with Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart, Liam Broady and Jack Draper also in action.

Boulter faces 2021 finalist Karolina Pliskova in the first match on Centre Court and Dart takes on American eighth seed Jessica Pegula.

Broady plays Argentine 12th seed Diego Schwartzman, with Draper last on Court One against Australian 19th seed Alex de Minaur.

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