Cameron Norrie set up a third-round meeting against Roger Federer at Wimbledon after defeating Australian Alex Bolt 6-3 6-1 6-2 on Thursday.
It means there are three British men into the third round of the tournament for the first time since 1999 with Dan Evans and Andy Murray having both won on Wednesday.
Norrie’s win eclipsed his previous best result at Wimbledon while his place in the third round is his equal best at a Grand Slam. In contrast, this will be Federer’s 18th third-round appearance at Wimbledon alone, an indication of the magnitude of the task facing the British No2.
Federer, like his upcoming opponent, was a comfortable straight sets winner 7-6 6-1 6-4 over Richard Gasquet to set up a second career meeting against Norrie. In the last one, Norrie managed to win just two games.
Ahead of their meeting, Federer said: “Cam’s a good guy, he’s had a wonderful year and played great at Queen’s. I know it’s going to be a tough match. I’m happy for him it’s going well for him but enough now, he needs to go out now!”
In the opening match on Court No1, Bolt had come into the meeting with an eight-match winning streak, which included the Nottingham title, and immediately put Norrie on the back foot by breaking his opening service game
But Norrie, who has occasionally been a slow starter in matches, looked unfazed, broke back and was in the ascendancy for the rest of the match. In the end, it took Norrie just a little over an hour and a half to win the battle of the left-handers.
From the moment of the draw last Friday, he has always known Federer was lying in wait.
Looking ahead to that meeting, he said: “It will be special to play Roger. It’s another opportunity to get out on court for another match at Wimbledon. If it’s a time to play Roger, I guess now’s the best time. But he’s still a decent player, he can still play.
“I’m very happy to be through to the third round - I couldn’t be more pleased with myself. It was a bit of a tricky start, he came out firing and I went down a break. But I didn’t give him too much today so I was really pleased with today.”
It continued his excellent season, which has equated to final berths at Queen’s on the grass and before that in Estoril Lyon, results which saw him seeded at 29th at a Slam for the first time in his career.
