After surviving an early test in the first set, Roger Federer found his rhythm in a 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 win over Lorenzo Sonego to reach the quarterfinals in the 2021 Wimbledon gentlemen’s tournament. Federer made history, becoming the oldest men’s player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in 44 years.
With the first set tied 5-5, weather intervened to provide both players a brief rain delay and let the retractable roof over the Centre Court close.
Sonego looked like he was on the verge of taking control at the time of the delay. The 26-year-old Italian was up 40-15 at one point in the 11th game before play was suspended. After the delay, Federer was able to gather himself and take control of the match. Sonego made several mental mistakes down the stretch of the opening set that cost him. Federer wasn’t at his best in the opening set either. The eight-time Wimbledon champion committed 17 unforced errors, compared to nine for Sonego.
Once he closed out the first set in just over an hour of match time, Federer started to look more comfortable. He needed 44 minutes to wrap up the second set.
The stats from Federer’s 6-4 second-set win were much more in line with what fans are accustomed to seeing from him. The 39-year-old won 12 of his 15 first-serve points and 11 of 15 net points while committing four unforced errors.
The third set was largely more of the same from Federer. He had as many aces in the third as he did in the first two sets combined (two) and won two of his four break-point chances.
Federer has been careful to monitor his playing time at this stage of his career. The Switzerland native withdrew from the French Open after a third-round win because “it’s important that I listen to my body” coming off two knee surgeries.
The decision came after Federer played a four-set match against Dominik Koepfer that lasted 3.5 hours.
After the first set Monday took 61 minutes to finish, Federer looked like he could be in for a long day that would test his physical resolve. Instead, he only needed 70 minutes total to win his next two sets. Next up for Federer will be the winner of the Daniil Medvedev-Hubert Hurkacz match.
