‘Fedal’ Part 4?
Great rivals Federer, Nadal two matches away from another duel
LONDON— Defending champion Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal closed in on a dream Wimbledon final as the sport’s two greatest players swept into the last eight on Monday. Eight-time champion Federer needed just 16 minutes to win the opening set on his way to a 6-0, 75, 6-4 defeat of France’s Adrian Mannarino to reach his 16th All England Club quarterfinal. World No. 1 Nadal, the twotime champion, reached his first quarterfinal at Wimbledon since 2011—when he went on to finish runnerup—with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic. Federer will be playing in his 53rd Grand Slam last eight when he tackles Kevin Anderson, the eighth-seeded South African. Top seed Federer, 36, has nowwon32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon, just two behind his record set from the third round in 2005 to his title triumph in 2006. He has also held serve for 81 successive games at the tournament, a run stretching back the first set of his semifinal win against Tomas Berdych in 2017.
“It was crucial for him to stay in the match at the beginning of the second set and then it got tougher,” said 20-time major winner Federer.
“You always tend to play better against better players and I’m happy to be back in the second week of Wimbledon.”
Federer boasts a 4-0 career record against 2017 US Open runner-up Anderson, who reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) win over France’s Gael Monfils.
Anderson is the first South African man in the Wimbledon last eight since Wayne Ferreira in 1994.
The Federer–Nadal rivalry, often referred to as Fedal, has happened thrice in a Wimbledon final. Federer won in 2006 and 2007, Nadal in 2008.
Nadal, like Federer yet to drop a set, routed world No. 93 Vesely on the eve of the Czech player’s 25th birthday.
Monday’swin took Nadal, 32, into a 35th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“It was an important victory as since 2011 I have not been in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon,” said Nadal, the 17-time Grand Slam champion who has made four successive quarterfinals at the majors for the first time in six years.
Next up for Nadal is either Juan Martin del Potro, the fifth seeded Argentine, or unseeded Gilles Simon of France.
Del Potro was leading 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/5), 5-7 when his tie with Simon was halted for the night due to darkness.
Novak Djokovic reached the quarterfinals for the 10th time with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
“He’s got weapons, a big serve and a big forehand,” said Djokovic of the world number 40.
“I got a lot of first serves in, made him hit the extra ball. I served well when I needed to. It was difficult in the last few games. It was dark so I couldn’t see the ball that well and it was very windy.”
Three-time champion Djokovic, seeded 12, will next face Japan’s 24th seed Kei Nishikori.
American ninth seed John Isner also reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/4) win over Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Isner, 33, will be playing in his first quarterfinal at the majors since the 2011 US Open when he faces former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic.