Wimbledon 2021: Daniil Medvedev & Alexander Zverev reach third round

World number two Daniil Medvedev beat Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets to reach the third round at Wimbledon while German fourth seed Alexander Zverev also progressed.

Russian Medvedev, 25, won 6-4 6-1 6-2 against talented 18-year-old Alcaraz.

The second seed, who has never been beyond the third round, will meet Croatia's 32nd seed Marin Cilic next.

World number six Zverev, 24, produced a dominant display to defeat American Tennys Sandgren 7-5 6-2 6-3.

The 2020 US Open finalist will play 31st seed Taylor Fritz next following the American's 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-7 (4-7) win over compatriot Steve Johnson.

Elsewhere in the men's draw on day four, British number two Cameron Norrie reached the third round for the first time with a 6-3 6-1 6-2 win against Australian wildcard Alex Bolt.

There, he will face Swiss eight-time champion Roger Federer, after the sixth seed defeated France's Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 6-4 on Centre Court.

Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini, Spanish eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut and Australian Nick Kyrgios also sealed their places in round three.

Berrettini despatched Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets, the Queen's champion edging a third-set tie-break with a deft volley at the net to seal a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win and set up a third-round meeting with Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene.

Meanwhile, 2019 semi-finalist Bautista Agut earned a hard-fought victory in five sets against Miomir Kecmanovic, prevailing 6-3 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 3-6 6-3.

Kyrgios asked supporters for advice on where to serve as he triumphed 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-4 against Italy's Gianluca Mager.

He will meet 16th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, following the Canadian's 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 win against Mikael Ymer.

However, French 13th seed Gael Monfils and Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov are both out.

Monfils lost in four sets to Spaniard Pedro Martinez, going down 6-3 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5), while Dimitrov fell to a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) defeat by Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

While the women's draw appears to be wide open following early exits for several top-ranked players, Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas remains the only top-10 seed in the men's competition to go out in the first two rounds.

Despite captivating the Court One crowd with some delightful play, future star Alcaraz was unable to change that on Thursday against an in-from Medvedev.

The second seed responded to the challenge posed by the young Spaniard, who had broken back for 4-5 in the opening set only for the Russian to immediately end his hopes of a fightback.

Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the third round at Roland Garros since 1992 earlier this year and claimed a five-set victory over Yasutaka Uchiyama on his Wimbledon debut on Wednesday.

However, he was powerless to prevent two-time Grand Slam finalist Medvedev, who used his experience and skill to seal victory in one hour and 35 minutes with a performance that suggested he is ready to reach the tournament's second week for the first time.

Also seeking a first Grand Slam triumph, Zverev offered Sandgren little hope of causing an upset earlier on Thursday.

The German, whose best result at Wimbledon was a fourth-round exit in 2017, broke Sandgren's serve for the first time for 6-5 before serving out the opening set.

Having lost just five points on serve in the first set, the German maintained a devastating level in the second and secured a double break for 4-1 in a set in which he won all four of his service games to love.

Zverev made the crucial breakthrough in the third game of the final set, then denied world number 68 Sandgren his only break-back opportunity with a fine backhand winner in the subsequent game, before taking his first match point on the 29-year-old's serve.