Federer steams into his 50th Slam quarter
Roger Federer reached his 50th Grand Slam quarterfinal in just over an hour-and-a-half on Monday with a 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over Grigor Dimitrov in the Wimbledon fourth round.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Federer will face either Canada’s Milos Raonic, the sixth seed, or German 10th seed Alexander Zverev for a place in the semifinals.
Raonic beat Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals in 2016.
Federer, 35, is also the second oldest man to make the quarterfinals at Wimbledon behind Ken Rosewall who was 39 when he reached the last eight in 1971.
“I’m thrilled to be back in the quarters again,” said Federer, who took his record over Dimitrov to 6-0. “It’s very special to be in a 15th quarterfinal here.”
Defending champion Andy Murray reached a 10th successive Wimbledon quarterfinal on Monday. Top seed Murray eased to a 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 6-4 win over France’s Benoit Paire, who was trying to make the last eight for the first time at a tournament he once described as greatly “displeasing” him.
World No 1 Murray will face Sam Querrey, who he leads 7-1 in career meetings, for a place in the semifinals.
“I thought I played well. Maybe a couple of sloppy service games in the first set but that was by far the best I’d hit the ball so far. So I’m really pleased with that,” said Murray.
Only Federer and Jimmy Connors (11 each) have reached more consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinals than Murray.
The 30-year-old’s progress is particularly noteworthy as he came into the tournament nursing a hip injury.
“Two weeks ago I was resting, I was also a little bit concerned. When you’re having issues a few days before a big event, it’s frustrating,” said Murray, who has now made the last eight in 24 of his last 26 appearances at the Majors. “I’ve managed it well and I think I’ve played some good stuff. That was the best I’ve played so far in the tournament,” he said.
Czech 11th seed Tomas Berdych, the 2010 runner-up, downed eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3 6-7 (1/7) 63 3-6 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals on Monday, while Querrey booked his shot at Murray with a five-set victory over Kevin Anderson. The US 24th seed beat the South African 5-7 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 6-7 (13/11) 6-3.
Querrey famously dumped Novak Djokovic out of Wimbledon in the third round in 2016.