Images from Day 3 of the Wimbledon tennis championships played in London, on Wednesday.
Federer gets his sparkle back as sun shines at Wimbledon
The sun finally came out at Wimbledon on Thursday and eight-time champion Roger Federer got his old sparkle back on Centre Court to eclipse Richard Gasquet and move serenely into round three.
It was not quite vintage Federer, but the 7,500 fans packed around his favourite court did not care as the Swiss gave them plenty to ooh and aah about in a 7-6(1) 6-1 6-4 victory.
The 39-year-old Swiss took a while to find his timing and needed to save three break points in his first service game.
But having been pushed into a tiebreak, the 20-time Grand Slam champion flicked the switch and his game began to flow.
After taking the opener the sixth seed moved smoothly through the gears and Gasquet could not live with him as he suffered an 11th successive defeat against Federer.
Next up for the Swiss will be in-form British 29th seed Cameron Norrie who thrashed Australian Alex Bolt.
"It was a wonderful match for me and I'm really happy with my performance," Federer said on court.
It was a marked contrast to Tuesday evening when persistent rain meant Federer's first-round clash with another Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino, took place under the Centre Court roof and looked to be slipping away from the Swiss.
He eventually got through after Mannarino suffered a knee injury after slipping on the greasy turf.
Medvedev crushes teenager Alcaraz to reach third round
Second seed Daniil Medvedev subdued some early fight from Spain's Carlos Alcaraz before brutally dispatching the talented teenager 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday.
The 18-year-old Alcaraz, who has enjoyed a rapid rise up the rankings this year to 75th place, received a hearty send-off from the Court One crowd after showcasing his potential and flashes of his shot-making talent.
Yet Medvedev had too much for the youngster and turned on the afterburners in the second and third sets to hand out a punishing lesson to his opponent.
"Carlos is an amazing player," said Medvedev, who will next face either former finalist Marin Cilic of Croatia or French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi.
"I am sure he will soon be top 10 or higher."
Barty wins Blinkova battle to reach Wimbledon third round
World number one Ashleigh Barty moved into the third round at Wimbledon but not without a battle as she overcame spirited Russian Anna Blinkova and her own inconsistency in a 6-4 6-3 win on Thursday.
The top seed never looked in danger against the 89th-ranked Blinkova, but it was still not plain sailing for the Australian scrapper.
Her serve, so often a dependable weapon, was at times wayward, as she hit nine double faults and was broken three times, while her 33 unforced errors suggests she has some way to go to get fully sharp on the grass.
Barty, whose sole Grand Slam title came at the 2019 French Open, has never gone beyond the last 16 at Wimbledon.
She ultimately had too much firepower for Blinkova, however, and wrapped up victory after an hour and 30 minutes when her opponent swiped a forehand long.
Zverev slides into third round
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev moved smoothly into the third round at Wimbledon with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win over American Tennys Sandgren on Thursday.
The clean-hitting German was always in command of an entertaining tussle on Court Two once he broke Sandgren's serve at 5-5 in the first set.
From then on it was one-way traffic as Zverev reached the third round for the fourth time.
Sandgren entertained the crowd with some good-natured banter and could only chuckle when he made a complete mess of a smash to go down a double break in the second set.
Zverev faced only one break point in the match and has yet to drop a set. He will face another American in the next round -- either 31st seed Taylor Fritz or Steve Johnson.
Kerber battles past Sorribes Tormo in three-hour thriller
Three-times Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber held off a spirited challenge from Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo to win 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 on Thursday and book her place in the Wimbledon third round.
Kerber arrived at the All England Club brimming with confidence having won the grasscourt title at Bad Homburg -- her first tournament victory since defeating Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final three years ago.
The 25th-seeded German made a sure-footed start and gave very little away on her own serve before breaking Sorribes Tormo's serve with consecutive forehand winners to go up 5-3.
Sorribes Tormo, ranked 50th in the world, roared back to draw level at 5-5 but continued to leak unforced errors, allowing Kerber to regain composure and take the opening set.
After an early trade of breaks, Kerber showed glimpses of her best tennis with a string of booming backhand winners to take a 4-2 lead and threatened to run away with the match.
But Sorribes Tormo, who has never progressed beyond the second round at any major event, halted her opponent's momentum with deft touches at the net to break back immediately, before saving a match point to stretch the contest to a decider.
Both players dropped serve twice in a chaotic start to the final set as fatigue started to set in, before Kerber regained control by converting her seventh break point.
The former world number one held her nerve to seal victory in three hours and 18 minutes as the crowd at Court Two gave the players a standing ovation.
Kyrgios delights in Mager victory
Maverick showman Nick Kyrgios breezed into the third round at Wimbledon with his usual mixture of exuberant shot-making and near constant chatter as he made light work of Italian Gianluca Mager to progress 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday.
Kyrgios went through his usual repertoire of berating officials, himself and anyone else in his vicinity but when it came to the serious business on court he was almost faultless.
He saved a set point in the first set tiebreak and then roared in approval as he snatched the opener before taking the game away from his 77th-ranked opponent with some superb serving and delightful groundstrokes.
He fired down his 29th ace to bring up match point and then sealed his spot in the next round when Mager hit a forehand long, receiving a rapturous reception from an approving crowd.
Next up for Kyrgios, who was playing only his second match since losing in the third round of the Australian Open in February, will be a clash against either Canadian 16th seed Felix Auger Aliassime or Sweden's Mikael Ymer.
Struggling Svitolina joins exodus of women's seeds at Wimbledon
Ukraine's Elina Svitolina admitted she was struggling mentally with the demands of trying to win her first Grand Slam title as she joined the exodus of top seeds at Wimbledon on Thursday.
The world number five, seeded three, was beaten 6-3, 6-4 in the second round by Poland's Magda Linette, meaning that six of the top 10 seeds have already departed in the women's draw.
Sofia Kenin (4) and Bianca Andreescu (5) were knocked out on Wednesday, while sixth seed Serena Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, had to retire from her first round match after slipping and injuring her leg on Tuesday.
Ninth seed Belinda Bencic and 10th seed Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, lost in round one.
Svitolina is regularly amongst the top seeds at Slams but the Ukrainian has yet to make the breakthrough many predicted.
In 34 Grand Slam appearances, the 26-year-old has managed to reach two semi-finals, at Wimbledon in 2019 and the US Open a few weeks later, but has only reached one quarter-final in her last five attempts.
Against Linette, who had never beaten a top-10 player before and had lost in the first round at Wimbledon four times, Svitolina lacked inspiration and admitted she was struggling mentally and that her game was not in the best shape.
"Today I was not really in a good place. I need some time to analyse, but I think mentally it was not very good for me today," Svitolina told reporters.
"When you play a Grand Slam it's a different kind of pressure. It's tough to handle, but is part of the job.
"Today probably I was not fresh mentally to do that. I have been on the Tour for years now and there have been different kinds of situations. But right now I wouldn't say it's a very smooth time in my career..."
Svitolina's hopes of winning a major are not helped by the incredible depth in the women's game -- illustrated by the fact that four of the semi-finalists at this month's French Open were at that stage of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Unseeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova, better known for doubles, went on to win the title at Roland Garros.
"I think there has been a lot of talk about that for the past two years. There has been a really big race in the women's game where anyone can win any tournament.
"Everyone seems like the same level. So I think that's what's really changed. It's like physically everyone is ready to beat you."
Gauff sees off Vesnina to cruise into third round
American teenager Coco Gauff marched into the third round of Wimbledon with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russian Elena Vesnina on Centre Court on Thursday.
Vesnina, a former doubles number one, at 34 is twice Gauff's age and one of many mothers at Wimbledon. She returned to the Tour from maternity leave after nearly three years in April with a protected ranking.
Gauff, who stormed into the fourth round in 2019 on her main draw debut as a 15-year-old, took a tumble at 2-2 in the opening set but immediately got back to her feet, giving the chair umpire a thumbs-up to indicate she was fine to continue.
The turning point in the opener came at 3-3 when the American broke Vesnina, who made two backhand errors and served a double fault to give Gauff the lead. The 20th seed then served out the set, sealing it when Vesnina found the net.
Gauff carried that momentum into the second set with a double break to take a 3-0 lead, continuing to target Vesnina's backhand as the Russian made a slew of errors.
Vesnina then called for a medical timeout to get treatment on her back and returned re-energised as she broke Gauff for the first time in the match and rallied to make it 3-2.
A stroke of luck at 4-3 allowed Gauff to take the lead when a lob fell onto the net tape and dribbled over, much to Vesnina's frustration. The American then broke again in the final game when her opponent served her fourth double fault.
