Wimbledon, day 6 men’s roundup: Federer passes Norrie test; Medvedev fights back from two sets down

Roger Federer reached the Wimbledon last 16 for the 18th time on Saturday with a four-sets win over Cameron Norrie, the last British man in the tournament while second seed Daniil Medvedev staged a stunning comeback to beat 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic and reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time in his career.

Medvedev triumphed 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 and will face Polish 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz for a place in the quarter-finals.

It was the first time in his career that Medvedev had won a match from two sets down.

“My first one at Wimbledon. What is amazing is that two times at Wimbledon in the past, I was two sets down.

“Against David Goffin in 2019, I came back and had a break in fifth set and lost.

“When I went to the toilet today after the fourth set, I thought I am not going to allow this to happen again.

“When it went to 5-2, I thought ‘oh no’. I am really happy to come back and win the match.”

Former US Open winner Cilic, seeded 32, was unable to keep up his blistering start and was undone by 68 unforced errors.

Eight-time champion Federer triumphed 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and will be playing in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the 69th time in his career.

“It’s a nice stat to hear. It proves to me when I wake up in the morning that has happened,” said Federer who will turn 40 in five weeks’ time.

“I have loved every minute and I hope there’s a bit more left in me. It’s a pleasure still playing right now. This one is special because I’m almost 40 – at this point it’s all a bonus and I will see how far I can go here.”

Federer is the third-oldest man to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon in the Open Era –- after Pancho Gonzales (41) in 1969 and Ken Rosewall (40) in 1975.

He could have wrapped up Saturday’s match in straight sets when he had two break points in the 11th game of the third set. However, Norrie dug deep to force the tie into a fourth set but when Federer broke for 5-4, there was no second opportunity.

Federer finished with 48 winners as he won his 104th Wimbledon match.

He will face Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Nick Kyrgios was forced to retire from his Wimbledon third round match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday with an abdominal injury.

Having romped through the first set 6-2 against 16th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime the entertaining but unpredictable Kyrgios lost the second 6-1 and promptly retired with an abdominal injury.

However, the 26-year-old Australian saw a positive out of his week at a tournament where he reached the quarter-finals in 2014. This is Kyrgios’s first trip outside Australia since the coronavirus pandemic took hold largely because he did not trust himself to observe the bubble rules for the players.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev and seventh seed Matteo Berrettini also secured passage to the second week.

Results

Third round

Daniil Medvedev (RUS x2) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x32) 6-7 (3/7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2

Roger Federer (SUI x6) bt Cameron Norrie (GBR x29) 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4

Alexander Zverev (GER x4) bt Taylor Fritz (USA x31) 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4)

Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN x16) bt Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 2-6, 6-1 - retired

Matteo Berrettini (ITA x7) bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Hubert Hurkacz (POL x14) bt Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Lorenzo Sonego (ITA x23) bt James Duckworth (AUS) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Ilya Ivashka (BLR) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

Wimbledon men’s last 16 line-up (x denotes seeded player):

Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) v Christian Garin (CHI x17)

Marton Fucsovics (HUN) v Andrey Rublev (RUS x5)

Karen Khachanov (RUS x25) v Sebastian Korda (USA)

Denis Shapovalov (CAN x10) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x8)

Matteo Berrettini (ITA x7) v Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 

Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN x16) v Alexander Zverev (GER x4)

Roger Federer (SUX x6) v Lorenzo Sonego (ITA x23)

Hubert Hurkacz (POL x14) v Daniil Medvedev (RUS x2)

With AFP inputs