Federer reaches his 69th Grand Slam fourth round at Wimbledon

LONDON: Swiss great Roger Federer reached a Grand Slam fourth round for the 69th time on Saturday after beating British 29th seed Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 at the Wimbledon Championships, reported Xinhua.

Federer, clinching eight out of his 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles on the grass court at Wimbledon, took control in the first two sets. The left-handed Norrie managed to pull one back with resilience but could not hold an in-form Federer off in the fourth set.

"I'm very, very pleased and super-relieved - that was a tough battle," said Federer. "He deserved that third set. He played excellent. I felt I was able to keep a high level of play and can be very happy with how I played."

Being one month shy of 40 and after rehabbing from knee surgery, Federer could hardly be regarded as the hot favorite to win the title. But reaching the Grand Slam fourth round for the 69th time is phenomenal.

"It's nice to hear it will be my 69th Grand Slam fourth round," said Federer. "I've loved every minute, and I hope there's a little bit more left in me. It's an absolute pleasure still playing right now, and this is special as it's my last Slam before I hit the big 40. It's all a bonus, and we'll see how far it can go."

Federer will play the 23rd seed Lorenzo Sonego in the last 16 as the 26-year-old Italian defeated Australian James Duckworth in straight sets.

Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev came from two set down to knock out former US Open champion Marin Cilic 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, advancing into the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.

Medvedev will face Hubert Hurkacz in the next round as the Polish 14th seed swept Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in straight sets.

In the women's singles, the host teenager Emma Raducanu stole the show as the debutant beat Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 7-5.

The 18-year-old is ranked 338th and arrived at the All England Club with a wild card. But she is the host's only hope left in the singles events.

World number one Ashleigh Barty kept her winning journey as the Australian ousted Katerina Siniakova from Russia 6-3, 7-5.

--BERNAMA