The tennis player formerly known as 'Baby Federer' is himself now 35 years old. Richard Gasquet's vintage was yet another illustration of Roger Federer's astonishing longevity on a sun-buttered evening when the Swiss, just a month short of his 40th birthday, became the oldest man to reach the third round of The Championships since the 1970s.
One more indication of Federer's elegant resistance against the ageing process is that he hasn't dropped a set against Gasquet in a decade, a run of dominance against the Frenchman that started when Coco Gauff was seven years old.
With their single-handed backhands and free-flowing creativity, Federer and Gasquet both play lawn tennis that is close to being an art form. And when Gasquet ripped one exquisite, 102mph backhand down the line, in response to Federer's overhead, that might just be the best shot you'll see all Fortnight.
But while Gasquet had his moments, it was Federer, a winner of eight Wimbledon titles and the oldest man in the gentlemen's singles, who took control of the Centre Court grass.
"It's always a pleasure playing against Richard," Federer said after his 7-6(1), 6-1, 6-4 victory as he became the oldest man since Ken Rosewall in 1975 to make the last 32. "I'm really happy with my level. Today was special."
The Fed-Head super-fan with the 'RF' tattoo, and every other Federer enthusiast inside Centre Court, would have been encouraged by the way that the Swiss played for most of this match, taking him through to play Britain's Cameron Norrie on Saturday.
Federer wouldn't be here in London if he didn't feel as though he had it in him to emulate Martina Navratilova by winning a ninth Wimbledon, and also to land what would be his 21st Grand Slam singles title.
This straight-sets win didn't just extend Federer's one-sided history over Gasquet, but also took his streak against French opponents to 18 consecutive wins.
While Federer felt as though he had got a little lucky in his opening round against another Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino - who retired through injury at two sets all - there was no good fortune involved in his victory over Gasquet. As soon as Federer took the opening set on a tie-break, he started to play looser and more aggressive tennis, even winning the next five games in a row.
This was the third time that Federer had faced Gasquet at the All England Club - after a first-round match at the 2006 Championships, and a semi-final in 2007 - and every time he has gone through without dropping a set.
Breathing a tiny sigh of relief.
A much better match.
Getting better and better with more time on court.
Also happy Roger is wearing his RF logo hat. Took a while for him to get that back :).
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