The opening match on Centre Court was littered with delays on Friday afternoon after a medical emergency in the crowd, and two on-court medical timeouts. US No1 Taylor Fritz has already spent an inordinately long time on court after his first-round clash against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard with called for the Wimbledon curfew on Monday night.

When play resumed on Tuesday afternoon, Fritz overcame the big-serving Frenchman 6-7(6), 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-4. A day later, the 27-year-old was back in action against Canada ‘s Gabriel Diallo, with their contest also continuing into the night before the number-five seed swept the 23-year-old aside in five more gritty sets.

Fritz was hopeful of a shorter journey against Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina, but found himself immediately thwarted at the start of the second set. The American star was a set up but couldn’t keep momentum rolling when a fan in the Centre Court crowd was taken ill and play paused.

After a short interval – with the spectator receiving speedy medical assistance from the stewards and water from Fritz amid the soaring temperatures – play resumed, but in the same game, Fritz was forced to call for his own timeout after tumbling to return a shot. Fritz was left with a cut elbow, with a doctor brought to court to patch the player up.

Later on in the set, Fritz had to call the medics for a second time after struggling with what appeared to be blisters, and had his foot taped up before he could resume play. The stoppage in play on Wimbledon’s showpiece court comes just days after Carlos Alcaraz’s clash with Fabio Fognini was halted in similarly dramatic fashion.

Stewards rushed to the aid of an elderly woman who had fallen to the floor from her seat on the hottest opening day in Wimbledon’s history. The umpire then announced that play would be suspended, with defending champion Alcaraz also bringing the stricken spectator a cold bottle of water from the bucket behind his seat.

Other crowd members also attempted to help the woman – who was sat in the sun on Wimbledon’s hottest-ever opening day as temperatures reached 31.4 degrees Celsius by 2pm – by fanning her and shading her with umbrellas. After a 17-minute pause in play, the spectator was eventually carried away from Centre Court, but was thankfully sat up and responsive.

79-year-old widow Delyth Lewis is said to be an enormous Alcaraz fan, and will have been cheered by the two-time Wimbledon champion’s response to her taking ill. After Lewis’ daughter thanked the world No2 via social media, and received a personal note from Alcaraz himself.

‘You’re very welcome, it was nothing!’ Alcaraz replied on X. ‘I hope your mum is doing well. ‘Send her a kiss from me and take good care of her.’