LAST UPDATE | 1 Jul 2021
ROGER FEDERER FOUND his form on the lawns of SW19 to comfortably defeat Richard Gasquet and set up a third-round clash with Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
This was a throwback match, with the pair having first met at Wimbledon 15 years ago, and, although this was not quite vintage Federer, it was certainly a great improvement on his performance against Adrian Mannarino in round one.
The eight-time champion had been two sets to one down when his French opponent slipped and suffered a knee injury that forced him to retire.
The knowledge that he had beaten Gasquet in 18 of their 20 previous meetings, including the last 11, no doubt gave him a little extra confidence and, after coming through a close first set, Federer pulled away to win 7-6 (1) 6-1 6-4.
The 39-year-old had at least been fighting back when Mannarino had his unfortunate fall. He was shaky again at the start here, saving three break points in his opening service game.
But Federer began to show more conviction in his shots as the set wore on and played a fine tie-break, ending a run of four straight tie-breaks lost at Wimbledon taking in one against Mannarino and three in the 2019 final versus Novak Djokovic.
The Swiss relies on impeccable footwork and timing for his aggressive game, and it is no surprise that has not come back immediately following his lengthy absence, in which he had two knee operations.
The second set saw Federer in total control, and a break of his old rival’s serve in the seventh game of the third set paved the way for a dominant victory.
Gasquet tried to challenge an ace on match point only to be told he had used all his up, which rather summed up his evening.
Elsewhere, Nick Kyrgios roared through with a three-set victory over Italian Gianluca Mager.
The volatile Australian hammered down 29 aces, including one with a furious second serve after being foot-faulted, on his way to a 7-6 (7) 6-4 6-4 win.
Kyrgios set up a mouth-watering clash with Canadian youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Big-hitters Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev booked their places in the third round in comprehensive style.
Second seed Medvedev, who has never been past round three, raced through with a straight-sets victory over Carlos Alcaraz.
Spanish wild card Alcaraz, a rising star who has climbed from 492 in the world to 75 in the space of 18 months, was broken in the first game but hit back for 5-4, only to surrender his serve once again.
Russian Medvedev then sped away from the 18-year-old to complete a routine 6-4 6-1 6-2 victory.
The match lasted just over an hour and a half, and Medvedev said: “The faster you go on grass, the better.
“I love grass. In my first four grand slams I had only one victory and it was here so Wimbledon will always be special to me.”
Fourth seed Zverev made light work of Tennys Sandgren – who struggled to prevent tennis balls slipping from his pockets.
During a light-hearted encounter on Court Two a ball fell loose twice, costing him a point the second time.
German Zverev, who won 7-5 6-2 6-3, said: “It’s an unfortunate way to lose points. The second time I stopped, the ball was right at his feet.
“I couldn’t have continued playing because it would have been dangerous for him. It’s an odd way to win a point, but unfortunately it happens.
“Maybe he needs to talk to his clothing provider and ask for some deeper pockets!”
Zverev will face Taylor Fritz, who came through a five setter against fellow American Steve Johnson having undergone knee surgery just last month.
“I’m very surprised that he’s actually playing here and I’m very surprised how well he’s playing,” added Zverev.
“I have to give credit to him for coming back this quickly.”
Queen’s Club winner Matteo Berrettini, seeded seventh, continues to impress on the grass, the Italian beating Dutch lucky loser Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3 6-4 7-6 (4).
French 13th seed Gael Monfils lost in four sets to Pedro Martinez of Spain and former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov was beaten 6-4 7-6 (6) 7-6 (4) by Alexander Bublik.
