Federer, Kyrgios, advance, Querrey stuns Thiem

Roger Federer overcame a first set loss to defeat South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 3/6, 6/1, 6/2, 6/2 on a Wimbledon day in which American Sam Querrey stunned the fourth seed, Dominic Thiem of Austria, 6/7 (4), 7/6 (1), 6/3, 6/0. Australia’s talented showman Nick Kyrgios defeated compatriot Jordan Thompson in five sets to advance to the second round.

It was supposed to be a routine first round match for Wimbledon’s third seed, but 22-year old Lloyd Harris stunned Federer by taking the opening set 6/3. In the second set, Federer took the first game on his serve and raced to win 6/1. Any thought of Federer cruising was confirmed as he took the third set 6/2. In the fourth set, he won the fifth game to lead 4-1 and held serve to win 6-2. It was match that had the burden of statistics.

Lloyd is ranked 86th in the world and although slightly taller than the Swiss superstar, he is only four years on the professional tour. His record of 12 career tour victories and 15 lost matches is dwarfed by Federer’s 1217/264 tally since he turned professional in 1998 and amassing 102 titles.

Thompson led 6-5 in the first set and Kyrgios took his serve to level six games apiece, closing with his sixth ace. Thompson dropped serve for a mini-break in the tie-breaker but his opponent returned the favour. A second service break gave Kyrgios a 4-2 lead at changeover and he proceeded to win by seven points to four. Thompson clinched the second set 6/3 with a break of the Kyrgios serve.

In the third set, Kyrgios served at 4-5 and his 19th and 20th ace serves to level and he broke Thompson’s serve to lead 6-5. He had two set points at 40-15 but got deuced and survived one break point yet lost on the second. Having broken Thompson in the first point of tie-break, Kyrgios delivered his 21st ace to lead 4-2 at changeover when he extended the lead to 5-2. Thompson leveled five points apiece and cancelled a set point for 6-all.

From then on, Kyrgios could not seal four set points until he eventually won 12-10. The euphoria of clinching the long battle seemed to have set Kyrgios off to the moon as he lost the fourth set 6-0. He managed to pull himself together to win the fifth set 6-1.

Sam Querrey achieved the upset of the second day by defeating the finalist at Roland Garros, Dominic Thiem who took the first set tie-break by seven points to four. The Austrian would have won the second set if he had converted many break opportunities. In the entire match he did not seal any of the six break opportunities while Querrey’s converted all the four he had on Thiem’s serve. In the eventual second set tie-break, the fourth- seeded Thiem took only one point and that was the tipping point. The American won the third set 6/3 and did not lose a game in taking the fourth set 6/0.