WIMBLEDON
ROGER FEDERER BEAT GREAT BRITAIN’S CAMERON NORRIE 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 TO REACH THE FOURTH ROUND AT WIMBLEDON,
Roger Federer knows, naturally, that this Wimbledon marks his last Grand Slam tournament before turning 40. He knows, too, that he hadn’t played a third-round match at a major in nearly 1 1⁄ years. And, truthfully,
2 he knows he can’t possibly know how many more he has left.
Maybe that combination of factors led to the unFederer-like reaction — arms raised in a “V,” followed by a big shout and a vigorous fist pump — when his 123-mph serve was returned into the net to end his 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Britain’s Cameron Norrie on Saturday.
There also was this: Federer, who had two operations on his right knee in 2020 and had played only eight matches this season until this week, considered the 29th-seeded Norrie somewhat of a measuring stick — he used the phrase “reference point” — for where his game stands.
“I thought I was extremely calm throughout the match. Maybe that’s why I saved all the emotions for the very end of the match,” said Fededer, whose birthday is Aug. 8, making him the oldest man to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall was 40 in 1975.
“If I can beat somebody of his level, who’s played well last week, who is playing at home, who’s played a ton of matches. … I know who I beat, you know what I mean?” he explained. “It’s not just like a guy that can play good on the day. He’s a good player.”
There was decidedly no home-court advantage for Norrie; there were more “Come on, Roger!” cries from spectators, old and young, than there were pleas of “Come on, Cam!”
And Federer, who has won a men’s-record eight of his 20 Grand Slam trophies at the All England Club, delivered.
He had 48 winners to 33 unforced errors and won the point on 30 of 38 trips to the net, including 11 of 11 when playing serveand-volley.
Next will come Federer’s 69th appearance in the fourth round at a major tournament. On Monday, he plays No. 23 seed Lorenzo Sonego, a 26-year-old from Italy who has made it this far for the second time at a Slam.
“Maybe one of the first times I just felt very much at peace out there,” Federer said. “Really sort of a tranquility, I guess, to everything I was doing — where I wanted to serve, how I wanted to win my service games, then how I took misses, how I took wrong choices. I just brushed them off.”
On the women’s side, Delray Beach’s Coco
Gauff isn’t the only teenager making a splash at Wimbledon. Emma Raducanu is suddenly stealing some of the spotlight.
Raducanu, 18, and Gauff, 17, both advanced to the fourth round within minutes of each other Saturday.
For Gauff, it’s the second time she’s reached the second week at Wimbledon after her breakthrough performance in 2019, and she has already become a Centre Court regular. For Raducanu, who is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament, it’s an unexpected run that has given the British crowd an instant new favorite.
Raducanu became the youngest British woman in the Open era to reach the fourth round at the All England Club by beating veteran Sorana Cirstea
6-3, 7-5.
”Who’d have thought” Raducanu asked. “When I was packing to come into the bubble, my parents were like, ‘Aren’t you packing too many match kits?’ I think I’m going to have to do some laundry tonight.”
Raducanu was given a wild-card entry into the tournament but looked right at home playing on No. 1 Court, winning eight consecutive games to take a 3-0 lead in the second set. But she struggled to put away Cirstea, failing to convert three straight break points in the next game. She was then broken and missed another five break points at 4-3 in a marathon game that lasted nearly 15 minutes.
And she needed three match points in the final game before Cirstea netted a forehand.
Gauff had an easier time completing a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kaja Juvan on Centre Court. Gauff finished with 21 winners and broke her opponent five times.
She will next play former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, who beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 2-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Raducanu will face Ajla Tomljanovic, who was involved in a heated exchange with Jelena Ostapenko after their thirdround match. Tomljanovic accused Ostapenko of faking an injury to get a medical timeout while trailing 4-0 in the third set. They traded insults at the net after the match.
“You’re behavior is terrible,” Ostapenko said. “You have zero respect.”
“You’re the one to talk,” Tomljanovic responded.
Tomljanovic won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Top-ranked Ash Barty matched her best Wimbledon result by reaching the fourth round for the second time. Barty beat Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 7-5 on Centre Court.
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova beat Anastasija Sevastova 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 7-5.
In other men’s play, fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev beat American Taylor Fritz 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) and No. 7 Matteo Berrettini advanced past Aljaz Bedene 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Nick Kyrgios had to retire with an abdominal injury after the second set of his third-round match against No. 16 Felix Auger-Aliassime. Kyrgios told a trainer he couldn’t serve properly and was worried about tearing a muscle.
Kyrgios won the first set 6-2 but lost the second 6-1 on No. 1 Court.
The Australian is also playing mixed doubles with Venus Williams.
The men’s singles started on a more light-hearted note when Kyrgios stepped onto the court only to realize he left his grasscourt shoes in the locker room.
His mishap forced the two players to stand around for a couple of minutes before they could start their warmup.
“The one day I thought I was being a professional,” Kyrgios joked.
A Wimbledon employee reunited him with the right shoes.