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 the third round.

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.

Next up for the Swiss will be British 29th seed Cameron Norrie who thrashed Australian Alex Bolt.

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty moved into the third round but not without a battle as she overcame spirited Russian Anna Blinkova and her own inconsistency in a 6-4, 6-3 win on Thursday.

The top seed never looked in danger against the 89th-ranked Blinkova, but it was still not plain sailing for the Australian scrapper.

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina admitted she was struggling mentally with the demands of trying to win her first grand slam title as she joined the exodus of top seeds at Wimbledon on Thursday. The world No. 5, seeded three, was beaten 6-3, 6-4 in the second round by Poland’s Magda Linette, meaning that six of the top 10 seeds have already departed in the women’s draw.

American teenager Coco Gauff overcame a bout of nerves before settling into her groove to beat Russian Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. Angelique Kerber held off a spirited challenge from Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo to win 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

Romania’s Sorana Cirstea defeated Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4.

Medvedev sails

Second seed Daniil Medvedev brutally dispatched Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round. Fourth seed Alexander Zverev registered a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win over American Tennys Sandgren.

Nick Kyrgios made light work of Italian Gianluca Mager to progress 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4.

On Wednesday, Andy Murray roared to a 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 second-round win over little-known German qualifier Oscar Otte.

Sania-Bethanie up

Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands knocked out sixth seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Alexa Guarachi to move into the second round of women’s doubles. Sania and Mattek-Sands dominated the match and won 7-5, 6-3 against the American-Chilean combination in one hour and 27 minutes.

However, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan lost the men’s doubles first round 6-7 (6), 4-6 to Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Henri Kontinen.