By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – 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.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
