5 Americans advance in early play on Day 4 at Wimbledon

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LONDON (AP) — Five American players picked up victories at Wimbledon on Thursday as the tournament scrambled to get back on schedule after two days of bad weather.

With play starting earlier on the outside courts and the rain holding off in the early going, John Isner, Sam Querrey, Donald Young, Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens all won their matches.

The 28th-seeded Querrey advanced to a third-round matchup against two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic by beating Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. The match had been suspended by rain Wednesday at 5-2 in the second set.

Keys, seeded No. 9 after breaking into the top 10 for the first time this month, also reached the third round with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Kirsten Flipkens. Keys, a quarterfinalist last year, had 48 winners — more than double the Belgian player’s 22.

Isner, Young and Stephens all won delayed first-round matches.

The 18th-seeded Isner downed Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-2 after picking up at 1-3 down in the second set. Isner, who had 33 aces, has yet to advance past the third round at the All England Club.

Young, meanwhile, won his first match at Wimbledon after losing in the first round in his five previous appearances. Resuming at 2-1 in the fourth set, he beat Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

Stephens, seeded No. 18, defeated China’s Peng Shuai 7-6 (5), 6-2. Stephens reached the quarterfinals in 2013.

Other women’s winners included No. 11 Timea Bacsinsky, who beat Luksika Kumkhum 6-4, 6-2; and Annika Beck, who ousted Britain’s Heather Watson 3-6, 6-0, 12-10. France’s Kristina Mladenovic, seeded No. 31, was eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 6-3

British player Dan Evans made it to the third round for the first time, beating 30th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-1. Evans entered the Grand Slam with a 0-3 career record at Wimbledon.

Two lowly-ranked qualifiers finished a marathon match that went to 26 games in the fifth set — and ended on a double-fault.

Australia’s 248th-ranked Matthew Barton fell forward onto the grass in relief and exhaustion after 793rd-ranked Albano Olivetti’s second serve hit the top of the net and flew wide for his 17th double-fault of the match.

Barton came away with a 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 14-12 win that earned him a second-round matchup against another marathon man — Isner. The American beat Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 in a match that went to 70-68 in the fifth set and lasted more than 11 hours over three days.

Later Thursday, second-seeded Andy Murray was set to play the second match on Centre Court against 76th-ranked Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan.

Other men in action include No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 6 Milos Raonic and No. 7 Richard Gasquet. French Open women’s champion Garbine Muguruza was set to face Jana Cepelova.

By Stephen Wilson

AP Sports Writer

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