The Latest: Middle Sunday play being discussed at Wimbledon
LONDON (AP) The Latest from Wimbledon (all times local):
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4:25 p.m.
Wimbledon officials are considering the possibility of scheduling matches on the tournament's middle Sunday, traditionally a day off.
All England Club spokesman Johnny Perkins says discussions are taking place Friday ''as a precaution to tee up the operational side.''
Perkins says a decision will be made Saturday and will depend on how many matches are completed Friday - and what the forecast winds up being for the weekend.
There have only been three times in Wimbledon's 139-year history that matches have been played on the middle Sunday: in 1991, 1997 and 2004.
Rain delays on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday have created a backlog with the schedule. By Friday afternoon - Day 5 of the tournament - some players still had not started second-round play in singles.
In addition, men's doubles matches have been reduced to best-of-three sets, instead of best-of-five, for the first and second rounds.
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4:15 p.m.
Venus Williams has been pushed to a third set in her third-round match at Wimbledon.
The five-time champion, who is seeded No. 8, has been having trouble holding serve Friday against No. 29 Daria Kasatkina, getting broken a total of five times through two sets.
Williams won the first set 7-5. Kasatkina took the second 6-4.
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3:58 p.m.
Juan Martin del Potro, playing at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in more than two years, knocked fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka out of Wimbledon.
The 2009 U.S. Open champion beat Wawrinka, a two-time major champion, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the second round under the roof on Centre Court.
The meeting was the first match between two former Grand Slam champions in the second round at Wimbledon since Marat Safin beat Novak Djokovic in 2008.
Wawrinka has won both the French Open and Australian Open, and reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon the last two years. Del Porto reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2013.
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3:15 p.m.
Play has started on outside courts at Wimbledon after several rain delays that have lasted more than four hours.
Organizers are already behind schedule because of rain this week, with several second round matches being played along with third round matches.
Play on Centre Court, the only venue at the All England Club with a retractable roof, has been continuous, with Stan Wawrinka facing Juan Martin del Potro.
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2:05 p.m.
The rain is back at Wimbledon.
Venus Williams, who started her match on No. 1 Court later than scheduled because of rain, was forced off again while leading Daria Kasatkina 3-1.
Play on Centre Court, the only venue at the All England Club with a retractable roof, is still going on, with Stan Wawrinka leading Juan Martin del Potro.
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1:50 p.m.
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams has started her third-round match against Daria Kasatkina after a rain delay of about 45 minutes.
They are playing on No. 1 Court.
Action is still being suspended on all the other courts at the All England Club - except Centre Court, the only venue with a retractable roof, where Stan Wawrinka took the first set of his second-round match against Juan Martin del Potro.
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1:20 p.m.
There is tennis being played at Wimbledon - on one court, anyway.
Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro have started their second-round match at Centre Court, with the retractable roof closed.
Action is being delayed on other courts because of rain.
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12:50 p.m.
Only a few points were played before rain interrupted the action on Day 5 at Wimbledon.
Dustin Brown of Germany took a 30-15 lead over Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Court No. 2, with play lasting for only 1 minute.
Annika Beck of Germany took an early lead on Court 7. She won the first point and leads Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 15-0.
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12:30 p.m.
With 13 Wimbledon titles between them, Serena Williams and Roger Federer will be back on Centre Court on Day 5 of the championships.
While rain delayed early matches on the outside courts Friday, Williams and Federer were due up later on Centre Court, which has a retractable roof in case of bad weather.
Six-time women's winner Williams was set to face fellow American Christina McHale in a second-round match, with seven-time men's champion Federer facing British player Daniel Evans in the third round.
Weather permitting, five-time winner Venus Williams and two-time defending men's champion Novak Djokovic will be playing on Court No. 1. Venus, seeded No. 8, is due up first against No. 29 Daria Kasatkina, while Djokovic is paired against No. 28 Sam Querrey.
