Roger Federer eased past Lloyd Harris as all members of the ‘Big Three’ safely secured their passage to the second round of Wimbledon.
The Swiss was nowhere near his best early on against the South African but eventually advanced, winning 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 in an hour and 51 minutes.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal enjoyed straight sets victories across Monday and Tuesday – with the latter setting up a box office clash with Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios – but the same can’t be said for some of the next generation hoping to replace them.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov were all first-round casualties at the All England Club, while and Federer was left surprised at seeing the high-profile young guns tumbling out.
‘Yeah, surprising, of course. It’s not like they are unseeded, you know,’ Federer said. ‘I think any seed that loses, any top 10 seed that loses in the first week, with 32 seeds, is on the more surprising side, I don’t care almost who the opponent is. It’s almost always going to be a bit of a story.
‘For that many guys to lose early, yeah, you add Thiem to it today, yeah, it’s just too many. But I guess it happens. Margins are slim. I don’t know how Rafa is doing, but he struggled early on today. I struggled early on. It can happen.
‘Like I explained, I think this first week at Wimbledon really tests your, you know, different skill set and your nerves a little bit to that extent, too. Let’s be honest, maybe also especially Sascha and Dominic, it’s not their favourite surface.
‘So that they can struggle maybe is a little bit normal. Dominic did have a tough draw. So it can happen. But it’s definitely surprising.’
Zverev and Tsitsipas cut distraught figures after their defeats. The German claimed he had ‘zero confidence’ while Tsitsipas admitted he was ‘devastated’.
Federer confessed he would often break down in tears in the locker room as a young man and understood the pain of his younger colleagues, but he advised them to get it all out of their systems before coming to press and putting a brave face on it.
‘I had the same impression. It was a very emotional press,’ Federer added. ‘I understand. I was Mr. Emotional, so… I come from that same side. I would cry after losing matches throughout my junior years. Some take it harder. Some take it more relaxed. Some take hours to get over it. Some take days.
‘It really I think matters on what your personality is. I just feel like when you lose at a tournament like Wimbledon, it means the world to you, super important, you’re so, so down, so sad, take two hours if you have to, take four hours, I don’t care.
‘Go back, come back. I don’t know what you do. Take a super shower. Leave all the tears in the locker room. Once you come here, you feel like you get it done.
‘I don’t know how much time they took, but I just feel like maybe taking extra time when you’re young, when you’re so sad, which can be the case, is maybe the way to go. I’m not sure. I just felt also it was quite rough for them, which is not nice to see.’
