Rafael Nadal fell to another early exit at Wimbledon on Thursday — this time to 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown. Nadal lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to the qualifier from Germany, who frustrated the Spaniard throughout with his aggressive serve-and-volley style.
It’s the fourth year in a row that Nadal leaves the All England Club early. The two-time champion lost in the second round in 2012, first round in 2013 and fourth round last year — with none of his opponents ranked higher than 100th.
This, however, was the first time Nadal has lost to a qualifier in a Grand Slam tournament. Before Wimbledon, Brown had only won back-to-back matches on the ATP tour once this year, reaching the quarterfinals in Doha. With a casual between-the-legs shot, Roger Federer displayed the magic that makes him so special on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
In a vintage performance from the grass-court master, Federer blew away American Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the third round and crank up his bid for a record eighth title at the All England Club.
And, for good measure, Federer produced another highlight-reel moment to add to his collection of breathtaking shots.
With Querrey serving at 4-2 down in the second set, Federer scampered to his right along the baseline and nonchalantly flicked a shot between his legs - a “tweener” — for a perfect lob over the American’s head at the net. Querrey chased down the ball but hit a forehand into the net. Point, Federer.
“It’s rare that it happens, so when you get them you’ve got to pull it off,” Federer said. “It was a perfect shot. I even had a little bit of time. I had to shuffle with the legs to get in position. I just felt like I had the time. But, you know, if you don’t win the point you do look a little bit silly.”
Federer looked anything but silly on this day, playing the free-flowing all-court tennis that has brought him 17 Grand Slam titles.
The two players were even at 4-4 in the first set when Federer broke Querrey with a trademark cross-court backhand passing shot - punctuated with a fist pump and a shout of “Come on!”
From then on, it was all Federer. He broke five times in all, saved both break points he faced, had 32 winners to just 10 unforced errors, and closed out the match in less than 90 minutes. It was another quick-fire win for the second-seeded Swiss, who dropped just seven games in his first-round victory over Damir Dzumhur
“I’ve had a good run so you don’t want it to stop on the first or second round,” Federer said. “I guess there’s also a little bit of relief that I’m actually playing well here at Wimbledon as well.” Another former men’s champion also won in easy fashion Thursday.
Bidding for his second Wimbledon title in three years, third-seeded Andy Murray was barely tested as he swept past an ineffective Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 on Court 1 to advance to the third round.
It took Murray only 1 hour, 27 minutes to dispatch the 28th-ranked Haase, who beat him on a hard court in Rotterdam in 2008 but never mounted a serious challenge on Thursday.
Murray, who became the first homegrown men’s champion in 77 years when he won Wimbledon in 2013, is setting himself up for another serious title run this year.
Haase held at love in the first game, then didn’t win another in that set as Murray took 17 of the last 19 points, including 13 in a row in one stretch. Murray won nine games in a row overall to go up 3-0 in the second and take complete control.
Murray played a solid all-court match, with 25 winners, five aces and 11 unforced errors. He broke six times and saved the only break point he faced. Haase was erratic and had numerous mis-hits, finishing with 27 unforced errors, to 19 winners.
Out of desperation, on one point in the third set, Haase ran right toward Murray as he prepared to hit an overhead smash, then ducked away at the last second as the Briton drilled the ball down the middle. “It was a good match from start to finish for me and obviously getting the early lead helped,” Murray said. “I was very happy with the way that I played.”
Murray tossed his wristbands into the crowd — and happened to hit Wimbledon chairman Philip Brook, who was sitting next to Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla, the Duchess of York.
“I saw her briefly after the match,” Murray said. “Then the Duchess opened up her bag and my wristband was in there, so he (Brook) obviously had given it to her.”
Defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova also enjoyed an easy run into round 3. The second-seeded Czech routed Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-2, 6-0 in less than an hour on Court 1. Kivitova has dropped just three games in two matches so far after winning her first round over Kiki Bertens 6-1, 6-0.
Fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki nearly blew a big lead before recovering to beat Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6 (6). The former No. 1, who has never advanced past the fourth round here, was up 5-1 in the second set but faltered as Allertova won five straight games. Wozniacki held to force the tiebreaker, where she converted on her second match point.
“All of a sudden it’s 5-6 instead of comfortably in the locker room having won the match,” Wozniacki said. “In the end of the day, I won. I kept fighting. That’s tennis sometimes.”
Former finalist Sabine lisicki came from a set and a break down to beat Christina McHale of the United States 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 on Centre Court. The 18th-seeded German, who was runner-up in 2013, was broken in the opening game of the second set but turned things around by breaking right back and then won the last five games of the decider, closing the match out with a backhand winner.