Wimbledon Day 3: Tsitsipas wins 5-set thriller, Djokovic Świątek, Medvedev all advance

Wimbledon returned almost fully Wednesday for the third day of the tournament after weather forced most of Tuesday's matches to be suspended. Even more, protestors halted two matches. The matches were later able to resume.

As such, there were a bevy of matches to be played, including some high-profile ones like Iga Świątek, Novak Djokovic, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz. But the match of the day was a five-set thriller won by No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to advance to the third round.

Tsitsipas needed to win two tiebreaks including a 10-8 battle in the fifth set to secure a 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-7 (7-6), 7-6 (10-8) win over Austria's Dominic Thiem. He secured the grueling victory with a forehand winner down the sideline that was out of Thiem's reach.

The match took 3:56 to complete. Tsitsipas won't get a day off to recover thanks to Tuesday's rain delay. He'll return to center court on Thursday to face Great Britain's Andy Murray, who will have the support of a London home crowd.

Djokovic faced a battle that included a tiebreak with Australia's Jordan Thompson, but didn't drop a set in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 win. The seven-time and reigning Wimbledon champion advances to the third round, where he will face the winner between Argentina's Tomas Etcheverry (No. 29 seed) and Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka.

Świątek cruised into the second round, beating Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-0.

How did the Americans do?

Tiafoe grabbed victory against Wu Yibing in three sets despite a back-and-forth opening frame. Tiafoe won the first set after a close tiebreak, only to easily roll through the final two sets to win, 7(7)-6(4), 6-3, 6-4. The 10th-seeded American finished with 14 aces but four double faults. He's looking to eclipse his deepest run at Wimbledon from 2022, when he lost to David Goffin in the fourth round.

The rest of the American field fared well Wednesday:

Taylor Fritz beats Yannick Hanfmann after their match was suspended by darkness on Monday. Fritz, the No. 9 seed, fell behind but battled back to win 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Sloane Stephens made quick work of Rebecca Peterson of Sweden. The 30-year-old American won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

Notable upsets

No. 8 Maria Sakkari fell to Marta Kostyuk. Kostyuk, the 21-year-old Ukrainian advanced to the second round for her third consecutive Wimbledon appearance. Sakkari easily won the first set, 6-0, but Kostyuk battled back to win a pivotal second set, 7-5, before she rolled through the third match-winning set, 6-2.

No. 20 Roberto Bautista Agut lost to unseeded Roman Safiullin in a wild five-set outing. After Bautista Agut won the first set, he lost the second but won the second and third sets — both of which included tiebreakers. Safiullin won the final two sets, though, to capture the 2-6, 7(9)-6(7), 6(4)-7(7), 6-4, 7-5 win.

Qualifier Natalija Stevanovic defeated No. 18 Karolina Pliskova without much resistance in a 6-3, 6-2 victory. Pliskova, a 2021 finalist, falls short of the third round.

Other notable results

Daniil Medvedev staved off Arthur Fery. Medvedev pulled off the 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 win after a furious bout with Fery of England.

Highlight of the day

This tremendous return by Tiafoe. He hit it exactly where Yibing couldn't.

Protesters pop up multiple times

Rain wasn't the only thing that delayed matches today.

Two "Just Stop Oil" protests halted play at Court 18. The first during the match between Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Japan's Sho Shimbaukuro. Two protestors reportedly ran onto the court during the match and threw 1,000 puzzle pieces and orange confetti glitter onto the grass before sitting down.

They were later escorted off. The pair, identified as retired teacher Deborah Wilde, 68, and retired musician Simon Milner-Edwards, 66, were arrested for aggravated trespass and criminal damage, a spokesperson told The Guardian.

The second protest came a few hours later.