(July 1, 2021) At a month shy of 40, No. 6 seed Roger Federer became the oldest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon when he defeated Richard Gasquet 7-6 (1), 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday on Centre Court. Federer is on a quest to win his ninth Wimbledon title for his 20th major title. He currently shares the all-time record with Rafael Nadal at 20.
“I was really happy with my performance,” Federer said in his on-court interview.
“A tough first set and a great second set. I was just a little bit better in the third. I’m very, very happy, of course.
“It’s not the most important to feel your absolute best in the first and second rounds. What you don’t want to do is go out. Because then you’ve got to really look at everything and question yourself. I’m not there. I’m in the third round, I’m really happy with my level right now. Today was special, so I’m very happy with that.”
Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev polished off 18-year-old Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round. The Russian is looking to reach his first fourth round at Wimbledon, having never gone past the third.
He had nothing but praise for the upcoming player during his on-court-interview.
“I was actually even surprised in a way with the first set. Grass is definitely not his best surface, but he was giving it all there. Of course [in the] second and third sets, maybe the gap was too high. But I’m sure he’s going to be sooner or later in the Top 10 and maybe even higher.”
Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the 2018 champion won the match of the day when she triumphed in a three-hour nineteen-minute battle 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 over unseeded Sara Sorribes Tormo to reach the third round.
World No. 1 Ash Barty is in the third round courtesy of a 6-4, 6-3 win over Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-3 Thursday. Despite the score, Barty saw room for improvement in her game, especially her service game.
“A few things didn’t feel quite right today. That’s half the battle in sport, is being able to find a way when it’s not feeling all that great,” the Australian said.
“I felt like when my back was against the wall today, I was able to bring the good stuff. It just wasn’t quite there all the time.”
“[It was] not my best serving day. But that happens as well. I felt like I was just out of rhythm a little bit. A few technical things weren’t quite feeling spot on. But you have those days where some days you feel like you’re eight-foot-tall and can’t miss the box. Other days you feel like you’re three-foot-nothing, just getting over the net is a bit of a battle.”
Coco Gauff, 17, the 20th seeded American won 6-4, 6-3 over 34-year-old Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 in her second-round match played on Centre Court.
“My serve is really what helped me in today’s match,” Gauff said. “My serve has been pretty [much] helping me all throughout the French [Open] and all throughout here. That was one thing I relied on today.”
There were a few upsets on the day in both the men’s and women’s draws.
The biggest seed to fall was women’s No. 3 Elina Svitolina who lost to Poland’s Magda Linette 6-3, 6-4. It was Linette first-ever win over a top 15 player.
“Anyone can win any tournament —a lot of good players, doesn’t matter on the ranking, they can challenge you with amazing performance,” noted the woman from Ukraine. “First, second round, there are all the time tough matches.”
American Shelby Rogers beat No. 15 Maria Sakkari of Greece 7-5, 6-4 and No. 12 seed Victoria Azarenka fell to Sorana Cirstea in three sets.
The men’s seeds that lost on Thursday were [13] Gael Monfils and [18] Grigor Dimitrov.
Top 10 seeds advancing included: No. Alexander Zverev, No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, and [8] Roberto Bautista Agut.
