Federer too good for Gasquet, Kerber thrashes Sharapova
MELBOURNE: Roger Federer eased into the second week of the Australian Open with a 6-2 7-5 6-4 win over Richard Gasquet on Saturday evening that kept the Swiss on course for a 20th Grand Slam title.
The 36-year-old defending champion reached the fourth round of the Melbourne Park tournament for the 16th time by shifting up the gears when required to see off his French opponent in just under two hours on Rod Laver Arena.
Gasquet played a solid match, studded with his trademark occasional moments of shot-making brilliance, but that was never enough to overcome one of the best players of all time.
Watched from the stands by 11time Grand Slam champion Laver, second seed Federer sealed the victory with a backhand winner to set up a first career meeting with Hungarian Marton Fucsovics for a place in the quarterfinals.
Former champion Novak Djokovic added an apparent muscle strain in his lower back to concerns about his problem elbow but still overpowered Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.
Djokovic will face South Korea’s young gun Chung Hyeon in an intriguing inter-generational battle for a place in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova’s hopes of a title-winning return to the Australian Open were unceremoniously crushed by Angelique Kerber as the battle of the former champions ended 6-1, 6-3 in the German’s favour.
The Rod Laver Arena evening clash between the only two Grand Slam winners left in the women’s draw had the feel of a showpiece final rather than a third-round match-up but only 21st seed Kerber rose to the occasion.
Unseeded Russian Sharapova, back in Melbourne after testing positive for a banned substance following her quarterfinal defeat by Serena Williams here in 2016, which resulted in a 15-month ban, had looked menacing in the opening two rounds.
But the form she showed in beating 14th seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova deserted her.
Kerber broke Sharapova’s serve in the first game of the match and that set the tone. The German made only seven unforced errors in the 64-minute contest. More reports @ timesofoman.com/sports