04:43 PM
Federer* 3-4 Gasquet (*denotes next server)
Gasquet is looking good on serve – he sends down an ace down the line before a long backhand from Federer allows the Frenchman to hold to 15. Very solid and impressive from the world No.56. Federer could do with a dominant service game now.
04:40 PM
Federer 3-3 Gasquet* (*denotes next server)
Federer has only played 10 matches in the past 19 months and it’s no huge shock to see him struggle for rhythm early on. Gasquet is attacking the second serve, standing inside the baseline, and earns a break point. The Swiss summons up three decent first serves and holds, just.
04:36 PM
Federer* 2-3 Gasquet (*denotes next server)
Here’s a stat – Federer has won 102 matches at Wimbledon, the next best man is the Bad Boy from Illinois (aka Jimmy Connors) on 84, impressive. Gasquet has settled into this match well and holds to 30.
04:32 PM
Federer 2-2 Gasquet* (*denotes next server)
That’s more like it from the Swiss sensation – he holds to 15 in next to no time.
04:29 PM
Federer* 1-2 Gasquet (*denotes next server)
The crowd is treated to a bit of Federer brilliance as he plays a backhand winner down the line on the run. It’s the only point he wins in the game as Gasquet powers down an ace to hold to 15.
04:27 PM
Federer 1-1 Gasquet* (*denotes next server)
Federer mishits a forehand and Gasquet powers a forehand winner – that’s two mishits in the first two games from the Swiss – strange. The Frenchman has an early break point but Federer gets in a first serve and it’s deuce. He’s so dominant when he is in control of his first serve – he can dictate rallies. Gasquet has another break point, thanks to a fine sliced volley, that shot, however, is bettered by a Federer drop shot that the Frenchman cannot get close to. The Swiss serves out the game with an ace.
04:20 PM
Federer* 0-1 Gasquet (*denotes next server)
It’s been 10 years since the Frenchman took a set off Federer, he serves first and is immediately under pressure at 0-30, a Federer forehand winner the pick of the early shots. Another blistering forehand, this one down the line, earns the Swiss a break point which he cannot capitalise on. At deuce he mishits a backhand and from there Gasquet wins it with a forehand winner crosscourt.
04:15 PM
The sun is out
HURRAH!
04:11 PM
Federer and Gasquet are on the hallowed (and hopefully not slippy) turf
These two know each other well. Both back from injuries. Can Gasquet get the better of the Swiss star for only the third time in 21 matches?
04:09 PM
Coco Gauff is back
And means business.
04:05 PM
The courts don’t seem as slippy as on days one and two
Roger Federer’s progression through to today’s match is partly down to the treacherous slippy courts which saw his first round opponent Adrian Mannarino fall badly and have to retire at two sets apiece. Later on Tuesday, Serena Williams also came a cropper to the lush turf as she slipped and was also forced to retire hurt.
So what’s was causing the players to slip more than usual?
Here’s our very own Tom Morgan on the headline problem of earlier this week.
READ: Wimbledon Q&A: What is causing players to slip on court? And how can it be stopped?
03:58 PM
Carlos Alcaraz may have lost but…
…remember the name – he’s a future star.
03:52 PM
Men’s No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev is through
03:50 PM
Coco Guaff has beaten Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3
03:49 PM
Richard Gasquet facts
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The famous Frenchman is down to 56 in the world rankings. He was as high as No.7.
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The 35-year old has won 15 ATP Tour titles and earned nearly $19 million in prize money.
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Gasquet has enjoyed success on grass before, winning three of his tour-level titles on the surface.
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He has reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon twice, with Federer beating him at that stage in 2007.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD vs FEDERER
The pair have faced each other 20 times with Federer coming out on top on 18 occasions. The Swiss has also won the past 22 sets they have played.
03:40 PM
Gasquet is feeling confident
The Frenchman thinks this could be a good time to face Federer…
“There is only one Roger Federer,” he said. “He’s an incredible player, the best player to watch. But it’s a big chance for me to go there and try my best to play the best match and win.”
03:28 PM
Here’s a lovely long read on Federer’s love affair with Wimbledon
If someone’s won a tournament eight times it’s no surprise when you learn they adore it and cannot wait to return time and time again.
Our very own Simon Briggs has written a fine piece on the Swiss’ adoration for SW19 and how it developed.
“The first key influence was Federer’s future wife Mirka Vavrinec – then a fellow member of the Swiss tennis team whom he met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. According to Roger Federer: The Biography, an excellent new release from Rene Stauffer, “He would usually lose interest in training after an hour but he would watch her – stunned and full of admiration – as she trained for five or six hours without a break or a lapse in concentration.”
READ: Roger Federer and Wimbledon: a romance in three acts
11:51 AM
Roger Federer still has a host of questions to answer
It’s not often you hear Roger Federer say: “he was the better player, I was lucky” and when you do you assume he has just beaten one of his arch rivals, Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal. That he said it having made it through to today’s match against Richard Gasquet courtesy of Adrian Mannarino’s retirement makes it all the more astounding.
The Swiss was two sets to one down against the Frenchman, who had only ever taken one set against him in six previous meetings, and was up against it. He was up in the fourth set when Mannarino slipped on the currently notorious Centre Court turf and hurt his knee. By the time they went into the fifth and deciding set Federer’s opponent decided he couldn’t go on.
Would Mannarino have gone on to beat the eight-time champion? We’ll never know but the former world No.1 was in no doubt that he got “lucky”.
What is not in doubt is that Federer has questions to answer. He came into the championships with question marks hanging over him about fitness and form – he was dumped out of the Halle tournament where he is a ten-time champion – and those remain ahead of his match against Gasquet. Federer will have to silence his critics against the experienced Frenchman.
After the first-round scare Federer spoke about the slippery court which had proved fatal to Mannarino’s victory hopes and later was to do the same to Serena Williams.
“It feels a tad more slippery maybe under the roof. You do have to move very, very carefully out there. If you push too hard in the wrong moments, you do go down,” the Swiss said.
“But it’s always been like this. I feel for a lot of players it’s super key to get through those first two rounds because the grass is more slippery, it is more soft. As the tournament progresses, usually it gets harder and easier to move on. This is obviously terrible that it’s back-to-back matches and it hits Serena as well. Oh, my God, I can’t believe it.”