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Unfamiliar faces sticking around at Wimbledon

LONDON — There they were on the practice courts during Wimbledon’s traditional off day, all preparing for whatever Week 2 might have in store.

Not unusual to see Novak Djokovic, a six-time Grand Slam champion, getting ready for the fourth round, but not far away was Jerzy Janowicz, winner of a grand total of six matches at major tournaments before this one.

No surprise that 2011 French Open champion and two-time Slam runner-up Li Na was still around, but so was 19-year-old Laura Robson, the first British woman to get this far at the All England Club since Sam Smith in 1998.

With early exits by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and Maria Sharapova long gone, too, after a chaotic first week, the Wimbledon draws were dotted with unfamiliar names after Sunday’s traditional mid-tournament break, names such as Kenny de Schepper and Adrian Mannarino, Karin Knapp and Monica Puig.

Five of the remaining 16 men were set to make their fourth-round Wimbledon debuts Monday. Six never have reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal: de Schepper, Ivan Dodig, Janowicz, Lukasz Kubot, Mannarino, and Andreas Seppi. Perhaps not coincidentally, each of those relatively unknown half-dozen players benefited from at least one of the record-tying 13 walkovers or mid-match retirements from injury or illness so far.

Four of the 16 women left also were hoping to reach a major quarterfinal for the first time.

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