WIMBLEDON
harder,” Mannarino said. “This is what is not easy to handle.”
He showed up wearing a plain white T-shirt, bereft of any obvious sponsor’s logos, looking like someone out for a casual hitting session in a public park. At least it appeared to be the right size. What a difference from a week ago, when Federer’s debut of new duds after splitting from Nike drew so many headlines.
It took Mannarino so much toil and trouble to win one game, saving four break points to hold to begin the second set. He was able to tread water until 5-all, when Federer returned a 123 mph serve, quickly gained control of a baseline exchange, then hopped and screamed, “Come on!” as a backhand flew long for the break. Federer also broke, then held to end the match.
“I think,” Federer said
when it was over, “I can be very pleased.”
The women’s quarterfinals are Tuesday, with Williams vs. Camila Giorgi, two-time major champion Angelique Kerber vs. No. 14 Daria Kasatkina, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko vs. Dominika Cibulkova, and No. 13 Julia Goerges vs. No. 20 Kiki Bertens.
On Wednesday, Federer will play No. 8 Kevin Anderson, a South African who was the 2017 U.S. Open runner-up and advanced with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 5-7, 7-6 (4) victory over Gael Monfils.
“I mean, I’m definitely going to have to look at it the right way. I think the right way of looking at it is: It’s an opportunity to test myself against a player of Roger’s caliber,” said Anderson, who is 0-4 against Federer. “These are the matches we work so hard for, me and my whole team.”
The other matchup on the top half of the draw is
No. 9 John Isner against No. 13 Milos Raonic, who beat Federer in the 2016 semifinals before losing in the final.
On the bottom half of the bracket, it’ll be 12-time major champion Djokovic against 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, and No. 2 seed Nadal against either 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro or Gilles Simon. Del Potro was leading Simon two sets to one when their match was suspended because of darkness Monday night.
Anderson, Isner and Nishikori all reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time.
For Nadal, this marks a return. He hadn’t been this far at the All England Club since 2011, losing to men ranked 100th or worse on four of his past five appearances.
“It’s true, it has been a while,” Nadal said. “But when I come here, I come here thinking that I can do a good result, no?”