Swiss ace in last 16; 338-ranked Raducanu too makes the grade
Roger Federer pumped his fists after punctuating his third-round win over Britain's Cameron Norrie on Centre Court, the Swiss superstar's picturesque drawing room.
Federer, the sixth seed, came through 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, sealing his place in the fourth round of a major for a record 69th time. The Swiss, who had chances to close out the match in straight sets, finally broke through in the ninth game of the fourth set.
"Very very relieved," the sixth seed said after the 2-hour and 35-minute encounter. "I was so close to serving it out in third set, but Cam deserved the third set, he played excellent today. Overall, I can be happy with my win. I hope there's still a little left in me. This one is a little more special, my last Slam before I turn 40,"
Emma Raducanu, the world No.338, the lowest ranked player in the field, knocked out world No.45 Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-3, 7-5 in the third round. Her angled shots, short cross-courts off both flanks, caught her opponent short.
Raducanu, at 18 years and 239 days, is the youngest British woman to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon in the Open Era. The wildcard entrant, making her Wimbledon debut, had 30 winners in the match, 18 of which came from the forehand side.
The 18-year-old will play Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic on Monday for a place in the quarterfinals.
On the adjacent Centre Court 17-year-old American Coco Gauff prevailed 6-3, 6-3 over the 20-year-old Kaja Juvan of Slovenia.
Gauff, seeded 20, has now made it into the fourth round or better in four of the eight Grand Slam main draws she has contested, including her first major quarterfinal at Roland Garros last month. Gauff's breakthrough run came at Wimbledon in 2019, when she made an electric charge to the fourth round as a15-year-old qualifier.
Two years later, in the next edition of tennis' grass-court major, the American has returned to the second week.
KYRGIOS INJURED
Felix Auger-Aliassme, the 16th seed from Canada, advanced to the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time after Nick Kyrgios retired with an abdominal injury at the end of the second set. The score was level at 2-6, 6-1.
"I haven't played this level of tennis in a long time and obviously playing someone as good as Felix I would want my main weapon, my serve, to be firing," Kyrgios said in his oncourt interview. "I felt my ab, I definitely did something to it at the end of the first set."
