London: Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer overcame a first set scare to reach the second round on Tuesday beating South African debutant Lloyd Harris 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Federer, whose great rival Rafael Nadal was also in action against Japanese qualifier Yuichi Sugita, took time to get going and was helped by his opponent suffering a calf problem midway through the match.”I struggled early on, my legs were frozen and the ball was not going where I wanted it to,” said Federer.”He was hitting big and things were going quickly. I was nervous for a set and a half.”So it took a good effort from me. Lloyd played a good match.”If Nadal comes through, he will renew his bitter rivalry with Nick Kyrgios after the combustible Australian claimed a 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 7-6 (12/10), 0-6, 6-1 win over countryman Jordan Thompson.Kyrgios, who stunned Nadal as a 144-ranked wildcard on his tournament debut in 2014, put in a typically raucous and charismatic display on Court 3 where he fired 23 aces and 63 winners. However, while he progressed another of the top 10 seeds fell by the wayside — two-time French Open champion Dominic Thiem’s lack of ease on grass being exposed by veteran American serve and volleyer Sam Querrey. Querrey, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2017, prevailed 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 6-0.”There’s still things which are not easy,” said Thiem.
“I mean, last year and this year together I played four grass court matches, which is not a lot at all.”All the clay court season it takes a lot out of me,” added the 25-year-old Austrian. Women’s world number one Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Angelique Kerber avoided the fate of second seed Naomi Osaka and came through their first round clashes safely.Barty beat China’s Zheng Saisai 6-4, 6-2 while Kerber, the fourth seed, beat fellow German Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-3. Barty did not have it all her own way in the first set being pegged back to 4-4 after leading 3-0. (AFP)
