Wimbledon 2021: Barty, Norrie and Gauff win, Federer in action – live!

He wins the final two points with a drop then an ace. Not bad.

Kyrgios is serving for the second set on No3; Azarenka leads Cirstea 5-3; and Auger Aliassime leads Ymer 4-3 with a break.

Gasquet has a break point, only to float a backhand long, and Federer makes him pay with a delicious drop before closing out.

Gasquet hasn’t won any of his last 23 sets against Federer. That looks unlikely to change today.

Azarenka has broken and consolidated – having lost the first set she leads Cirstea 3-0 in the second – Kyrgios is 3-2 up on Mager with a break, having won the first – and Federer has just broken Gasquet for a second time to lead 4-0 having won the first.

Problem being, Gasquet has still been broken. Federer now leads 7-6(1) 2-0.

Oh my absolute days, what a shot Gasquet has just played! He dashes for a get, stays in the advantage corner, and when Federer clubs a smash, he just stands there, then swipes a 102mph backhand down the line! That’s as good as anything you’ll see, though I’ve just been sent tape of an insane effort from De Minaur playing doubles this morning.

I’d not be surprised if Federer eased away from Gasquet now – he’s playing better than against Mannarino, and the way he attacked the breaker must’ve been soul-crushing.

With his serve, you’d back him against almost everyone, and though it took him longer than it needed to, he got there in the end.

Gasquet looked the likelier, but then we got to the breaker and Federer raised it. Of course he did.

That was a great “set of tennis”, and Cirstea played the better stuff overall, clinching it with a service winner.

Federer is starting to serve nicely, and an ace gives him 3-0; Kyrgios has retrieved a mini-break for 5-5; and Azarenka has hit three straight winners for 4-3. That match is also really, really good so far.

Cirstea and Azarenka are about to play a first-set tiebreak; the way it’s going, I’d back Cirstea. Meantime, Federer has two points for the same against Gasquet.

“I have a counter-view on Murray,” returns Arun Narayanan. “I really like his boy-next-door honesty and niceness, and his self-flagellation and mutterings somehow make him even human and even more lovable. And it’s simply unfair to compare with Federer or anyone else; different approaches work for different people! Personally, I am not a huge fan of his style of play and don’t find his shots ‘creative’ or ‘pretty’ as such, but that is a minor caveat; I love his grit and determination.”

Also, some things are more important than tennis, and he not only grasps that but acts upon it. If you’re making me choose, I’d much prefer he challenges the government and forgets to congratulate his opponent than vice-versa.

But if he wins, he has to play Medvedev.

I’m surprised Grigzy D is out in straights, but the sets were close – he just ended up on the wrong side of them. Bublik meets Hurkacz [14] or Giron next; currently, Hurkacz leads 6-3 6-2.

On No3, Mager and Kyrgios are at 5-5 in set one; next on No2, it’s Auger-Aliassime v Ymer.

It took her three hours and 18 minutes – and there wasn’t even a breaker – but Kerber got there in the end. When the players meet at the net, she thanks Sorribes Tormo for her efforts and the crowd go wild – rightly so. Kerber meets Hibino or Sasnovich next; I hope Sorribes Tormo builds on this; and as for the rest of us, if we see a better match this championships, we’re doing very well because that was stunningly, staggeringly brilliant.

Ach! Sorribes Tormo is gone, barely able to reach her arm up in the process of sending down a double that gives Kerber three match points.

Tomljanovic and Cornet have swapped sets, the first to the former, 6-4, and the second to the latter, 6-0.

Sorribes Tormo goes long with a forehand return, then a backhand onto the baseline sets up the dainty little backhand putaway at the net! We’re back on serve, and both these players seem to be enjoying the match as much as the rest of us, which is great to see. Kerber now leads 5-4 in the decider, but the match is no longer on her racket.

Sorribes Tormo battles to her hold and at 3-5, with Kerber serving for the match, makes 15-40!

“Re your comment on Medvedev,” writes Arun Narayanan, “he will first have to get past Federer though. The assumption that it will be relatively easier than Zverev speaks volumes about Federer’s current level of play…! Realistically speaking, what would be a good tournament for Federer? He is not going to win, but reaching the final perhaps? Or, semis? Or, quarters? Regardless, it will be fascinating watching the genius on a downswing…”

Agree. If he gets that far, I’d back Medvedev to wipe him off the court, but I won’t feel stupid if I turn out to be wrong because epochal genius can do that to any of us. He plays Medvedev in the last eight, so anything past that would be a major win, except he doesn’t measure by wins by anything other than winning.

Goodness me, this is the best match I’ve seen in tiiiiime. Both players are bushed but they’re still taking on and making shots, just a bit more slowly than before. Sorribes Tormo, having faced match point earns game point with a terrific low volley, but after another endurance test, Kerber hammers a backhand winner. They’ve been going three hours 10 minutes, and they’re back playing another round of deuces.

Kerber holds, just, and now leads 5-2 in the third. Sorribes Tormo is, for the first time, showing signs of weariness.

“Yesterday I wrote later in the day to Bryan about Murray’s lack of grace in not even giving a small acknowledgement to his opponent,” emails S Fuller, “who, as we know, had recently come off a three-day marathon and is a qualifier. Good to see others have made note of Murray’s bad behavior. And you published it today.

As a Brit living in Vancouver, Canada, I, of course, wanted him to win, given all he has been though but as the match progressed I was leaning to OO. A problem of a hip is no excuse for loutish behaviour.
As I said to Bryan, I have always had mixed feelings about Murray — I like his feminist stance but the scratchiness and often lack of grace…

Well , we now have Federer, the consummate gentleman on.”

I’m not sure about this. I don’t think we should balance Murray’s feminism against him being annoyed when things don’t go his way – we shouldn’t conflate sport with stuff that really, really matters – and after all he’s been through, forgetting to mention his opponent at the end of an exhausting, emotional match seems understandable to me. Has anyone who knows him ever spoken badly of him?

Kerber breaks Sorribes Tormo for 4-2 – surely she won’t be broken back again? – while Gasquet spurns two break points allowing Federer to hold for 1-1.