Central – Federer reaches the Wimbledon quarter-finals and enters the history of the tournament

Swiss Roger Federer battled bad weather in the first set, becoming the oldest player in the professional era to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals, by defeating Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Federer, who will turn 40 next month, was tied 5-5 in the first set before the rain fell and the two players returned to the dressing room.

After a 20-minute pause to seal the roof of the center court, Sonego again committed a double fault under the floodlights to lose his serve.

This gave Federer an opportunity to impose his word in the rest of the match, to win three sets without a response, separated by 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.

“It was an amazing difference between playing in the air and under a closed roof,” said Federer, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the 18th time to extend his record.

“The atmosphere was difficult, and after the first set I felt that I controlled the match better. I feel very excited to be in the quarter-finals,” the Swiss veteran added.

The former world number one, who underwent two knee surgeries in 2020, added: “When you are where I am, with this year I’ve been in, there are a lot of question marks about my position. You have to prove again to yourself that you can.”

In his 54th appearance in the quarter-finals at one of the four Grand Slams, to extend his record, the eight-times Wimbledon champion will meet Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, the world number two, or Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.