Great Britain's Katie Boulter reached her first-ever Grand Slam third round by eliminating last year's losing finalist Karolina Pliskova 3-6 7-6 [7-4] 6-4 on a memorable fourth day of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Boulter came flying out of the blocks against Pliskova with an immediate break against the former world number one, but her game soon started to dip as Pliskova found her serving groove.
A correct challenge from Boulter only managed to delay an inevitable double break from Pliskova, who went from 0-2 down to 5-2 up before Boulter served well to stay in the set.
However, the 2021 finalist would hold to love to gain the early advantage in the match as Boulter netted a backhand, but the Czech sixth seed had lost to the 25-year-old before after taking the first set.
It was Boulter's turn to seal two breaks in the second set following a couple of Pliskova double faults, but the Brit's serve was far from perfect either, and Pliskova quickly levelled at 4-4.
Boulter would ultimately take the match to a third set via a well-fought tie-break, demonstrating a much-improved second-serve win percentage, and she needed just the one break to eliminate the 2021 runner-up in front of a jubilant home crowd.
The world number 118 was not the only home favourite to march to a shock victory, as Liam Broady got the better of men's 12th seed Diego Schwartzman in a five-set thriller.
Broady posted one of the most memorable wins of his career so far with a 6-2 4-6 0-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 success, marching to his first-ever Grand Slam third round in the process.
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Reigning French Open champion Rafael Nadal would be taken to a fourth set by Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania in the evening, but the 22-time Grand Slam winner hit a stunning trio of aces while serving for the match and made it through 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-3.
Earlier in the day, Alastair Gray was made to pay for his missed opportunities against 11th seed Taylor Fritz, who marched to a far-from-straightforward three-set win over the Brit.
Gray missed six chances to break in the opening set, and despite boasting a 5-2 lead in the second after managing to end that barren streak, Fritz battled back to force and win the tie-break with a spectacular diving shot before sealing a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win.
Women's number one seed Iga Swiatek did not enjoy a simple encounter against Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, but the French Open champion ultimately advanced 6-4 4-6 6-3 on court one - matching Martina Hingis's 37-match winning streak in the process.
Last year's men's semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov saw his run come to an end against Brandon Nakashima in four sets, while Harriet Dart lost 6-4 3-6 1-6 to Jessica Pegula, but Heather Watson completed her two-set victory over Wang Qiang.
There was success all-round for the Boulter couple on Thursday, as the Brit's boyfriend Alex de Minaur recovered from losing the opening set to Jack Draper to win 5-7 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 6-3 late into the night.
Ben Knapton
