Federer Extends Sets Streak, Monfils, Isner Reach Second Week for First Time, McDonald’s Debut Takes Him to Fourth Round at Wimbledon
(July 6, 2018) Roger Federer extended his Wimbledon winning streak to 29 sets in a row with a a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 third-round win over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
The in also gave him his 175th match win on a grass-court passing Jimmy Connors to lead the Open Era.
The top seed and eight-time champion will play No. 22 seed Adrian Mannarino of France, who defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3.
“In the next round it will be a lefty,” said the 36-year-old Federer. “It will be much more of a strategic match, I believe, the way Mannarino plays.
“Yeah, 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. But it’s okay. I knew that going in. I’m just very pleased that I found a way that first set, then also stayed calm in the second set, regardless that I had maybe missed opportunities.
“He was always going to be a tough third-round opponent.”
Federer brought out the SABR – Sneak Attack By Roger during the third set of the match.
“When I do it again, it’s quite exciting for me, Oh, I can do that maybe again. I always have to check the score first.
“I’m happy I did it. I’m happy it worked. After that I feel like I got, how do you say, there is a buzz for me. Okay, shall I do it again, no? What shall I do now this next time? I think it just helps me with keeping it exciting for me, as well, with options.
“I already always have the option of slicing or coming over. Then with the SABR, I think it makes it more fun for me. That’s always the idea for me in practice or matches, keep it entertaining, keep things going. I don’t know, I always look for new ways to win the point.”
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev completed a match held over from Thursday, coming back from two sets to one down to beat American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (0), 6-1, 6-2.
Asked by a reporter if he was a masochist for having to rally for five-set wins, Zverev responded: “I don’t know what a masochist is. I won 6-1, 6-2 fourth and fifth. It was very easy.”
“Yesterday for me it was tough to play for multiple reasons. One, I had a stomach virus. Actually after the second set when I went to the bathroom, I threw up. I had stomach pain the whole match. I mean, as I said, I had to throw up. The night over, I didn’t really eat anything. It was tough for me yesterday.
“Second, on that, No. 1 court, I know that Wimbledon is used to be played till 9:00, past 9:00. For me, because it’s such a closed court, for me the court is dark at 7:30. For me, we played in darkness for one and a half hours. That’s why I couldn’t really see his serve, I couldn’t really break him. Neither could he.
“For me the most part of the second set and third set, for me we played in darkness.”
“I won a tough match. That’s all that matters. Obviously winning a tough match sometimes gives you a lot of confidence. That’s what I feel today. I feel like set four and five I played great tennis. That’s what I’m going to take from this match.”
US Open runner-up and eighth seed Kevin Anderson has reached the second week of Wimbledon besting No. 25 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. The South African in into the round of 16 of a major for the fourth time.
“I thought today was a terrific match for me,” said Anderson. “I knew I was going to be in for a tough one against Philipp. As I was saying yesterday, he’s a very experienced player. I’ve played him a few times, always had close matches. It’s always nice getting off to a good start, breaking him very early in the first set and then holding that nicely.
“Again, good in the second set. Gave back that break in the second. That wasn’t ideal, but, you know, that often happens, especially in three-out-of-five set matches, it swings both ways.
“I was able to keep my head and respond very well to that and play a good game to break and an excellent game to hold out that second set.
“Third set was very close, and had a few looks I felt as the set went on, and then obviously got very lucky with that break point at 5-All and did a good job serving out.
“Yeah, all in all, it’s always a great feeling getting through to the second week here at Wimbledon. I have done it a few times. One of my first goals was try and take it a step further and reach the quarters. In order to do that, you need to put yourself in the round of 16. So I have done that so far, so definitely looking forward to the opportunity on Monday.”
Anderson will play Frenchman Gael Monfils in the fourth round.
“I have played Gaël a few times. As you know, I haven’t beaten him before. So looking forward to having that opportunity hopefully on Monday.
“Haven’t played him on the grass. It will be an interesting adjustment to see what happens. I feel like on other surfaces he does such a great job of retrieving, absorbing pace very well. He stands quite far back behind the baseline. I feel it’s a little tougher to do on grass.
“I haven’t spoken to my coach yet to see how he played against Querrey today, who’s also got a big game, big serve. If he was standing up or standing back. So I’ll obviously have to get a sense of sort of what he’s doing.
“I think from my side it really doesn’t change too much. I think the way I have been playing, the way I have been approaching my game, I think I really need to be focusing on that. If I do that, I’m going to give myself the best chance of winning. I don’t think I need to make that big of a change playing him.”
Gael Monfils will be making his round of 16 debut at Wimbledon, he beat last year’s semifinalist Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Monfils talked about he came back against Querrey: “I think I was playing good. Just had a bad service game at 5-6. Hit three forehand in a row. I was timing good the ball, I think. He was serving big at the beginning, so it was tough for me to read his serve.
“I knew I just have to wait a little bit, as I say, be patient, I will for surely have opportunity on his serve. Just take them and keep going what I’m doing with my serve. That was the key.”
Monfils talked about playing Anderson next: “Big serve again. Big serve. He’s going for it. He’s a type of guy who never really likes to rally. He want shorter the points, even against a guy like me.
“It will be a tough one, even more on grass. It will be a tough one. I think Kevin has been maintaining his level for a while now. He’s a very solid player now. No more ups and down. He’s always strong, I guess. I think his believe is stronger than ever. It’s going to be a tough one.
“I just have to have a strong game plan also on Monday, still believe that I can beat him on grass even, then we will see.”
American John Isner will also be making his fourth round debut at Wimbledon. He defeated Radu Albot 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
It’s been a long time coming for the No. 9 seed: “It does, considering I have lost a lot of close third-round matches. Cilic comes to mind. Tsonga, as well. So very satisfied right now to be in the second week and also have two days off. That’s nice.
“I will certainly enjoy tomorrow. I don’t get to work. Just sit on the couch all day. But no pressure at all, sleep well tonight, will enjoy tomorrow. Get back to work really hard on Sunday, be ready for Monday.”
“I made a decision not to play any warmup events prior to Wimbledon. I think the most important thing I do is keep taking care of my body and make sure I’m physically fresh, more importantly mentally fresh.
“So I came into this tournament very eager and wanting to do well and gave myself five, six days of practice on these courts to get acclimated to them and get used to the conditions.
“So right from the get-go on Monday I felt like I was in a pretty good spot. Although I hadn’t played since the French Open, I was pretty confident coming into this tournament because I have been playing well since Miami. All of that combined has made me — it’s made for a good start here.”
No. 31 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas became the first Greek man to reach the fourth round of a major in the Open Era when the teen beat Thomas Fabbiano of Italy 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 at Wimbledon in 91 minutes.
“It’s amazing. It’s an amazing feeling, and I feel very proud that I represent Greece and that all of my hard work has paid off. I feel extremely proud that I can be the first Greek in the open era, as you said, in the fourth round of a Grand Slam.
“There is so much satisfaction. There is so much — it’s just such nice feelings to be the first from your country to do so, so, yeah, it’s amazing.”
American Mackenzie McDonald, ranked 103 in the world, became the first man to reach the round of 16 in his Wimbledon debut since Nick Kyrgios in 2014 when he defeated Guido Pella 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
McDonald wa a very successful college player winning 2016 NCAA singles and doubles titles for UCLA.
The third-round match between 13th seed Milos Raonic, and qualifier Dennis Novak has been suspended because of darkness.
Raonic was leading 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-5 when play was stopped.
