Federer Flies Into Wimbledon Week 2, Monfils Answers Querrey; Nadal, Djokovic Return Sat.
Roger Federer kept things rolling Friday at Wimbledon. The 8-time champ hinted he’d rather have played Ivo Karlovic instead of Jan-Lennard Struff in his third round match, but the German took out the big man in five sets. Today, though, Struff posed little threat to Federer who dominated in a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win.
“I’m happy I found a way today. Some moments where it can be frustrating because you’re not finding any rhythm, at times you’re more reacting than playing active tennis,” Federer said. “But it’s okay. I knew that going in. I’m just very pleased that I found a way in that first set, then also stayed calm in the second set.”
Federer has now won 10 straight matches at Wimbledon and he’s never lost in the third round there. The Swiss gets two days off before his next foe, Adrian Mannarino, on Monday.
Mannarino escaped from a break down in the fifth to beat towering 22-year-old Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3.
Mannarino won’t be the only Frenchmen on Monday. In a mild upset, Gael Monfils booked his spot in his first Wimbledon “Manic Monday” toppling American Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Querrey, the semifinalist from a year ago, was in complete control on Monfils who needed treatment for a scary fall early in the second. But Monfils, with France winning their World Cup match against Uruguay, pumped up his serve and stayed perfect against Querrey at 3-0.
“I think I was playing good,” said Monfils. “I just had a bad service game at 5-6. I was timing the ball well, but he was serving big at the beginning. So it was tough for me to read his serve. I knew I just had to wait a little bit [and] be patient. I knew, for sure, [I would] have an opportunity on his serve. [I] just had to take them and keep doing what I was doing with my serve. That was the key.”
Next for Monfils in 4-time Wimbledon fourth-rounder Kevin Anderson. The big South African who made the US Open finals last year, cruised past German vet Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.
Another big guy also moved on as John Isner didn’t face a break point in win over Radu Albot 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. En route to his first Wimbledon fourth round, Isner has yet to lose serve all week. Next will be the exciting teen Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 19-year-old had no trouble with qualifier Thomas Fabbiano in a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 blowout win to become the first Greek man to make a Slam fourth round in the Open Era.
“It’s an amazing feeling, and I feel very proud that I represent Greece and that all of my hard work has paid off,” Tsitsipas said. “There is so much satisfaction. It’s just such a nice feeling to be the first from your country to do so, so it’s amazing.”
Guido Pella couldn’t follow-up his big win over Marin Cilic. The Argentine fell in straight sets to former UCLA standout Mackenzie McDonald. Playing his first Wimbledon, the 23-year-old McDonald continued his incredible run beating Pella 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(6).
McDonald’s opponent won’t be known until tomorrow as light halted Milos Raonic’s match with Dennis Novak at 6-5 in the third after the two had split sets.
In the final second round match, Alexander Zverev fell behind two sets to one to American Taylor Fritz, but upon resumption the German dominated winning 10 of 13 games for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(0), 6-1, 6-2 win. Afterward, Zverev admitted to being sick on Thursday.
“I had stomach pain the whole match… I had to throw up. The night over, I didn’t really eat anything. It was tough for me yesterday,” Zverev said. “Today in the warm-up I was actually maybe thinking about it, not to play at all. I was very low energy. I didn’t eat anything since yesterday. But then I thought, ‘Well, if I don’t feel well, it’s going to be one set. If I feel better, it might be two’. [I] thought I’d go out there and try. Actually, the adrenaline pumped in. I felt great out there.”
A big Saturday line up includes the veterans taking on the young guns as Rafael Nadal tests teen Alex De Minaur. Novak Djokovic meets Britain’s last hope, Kyle Edmund and Kei Nishikori collides with Nick Kyrgios.
SATURDAY WIMBLEDON SCHEDULE
CENTRE COURT – 1:00PM
1. Alex De Minaur v Rafael Nadal
2. Angelique Kerber v Naomi Osaka
3. Kyle Edmund v Novak Djokovic
NO.1 COURT – 1:00PM
1. Simona Halep v Su-Wei Hsieh
2. Ernests Gulbis v Alexander Zverev
3. Nick Kyrgios v Kei Nishikori
NO.2 COURT – 11:30AM
1. Juan Martin Del Potro v Benoit Paire
2. Dominika Cibulkova v Elise Mertens
3. Matthew Ebden / Taylor Fritz v Jamie Murray / Bruno Soares
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