Federer glides into last 16 at Wimbledon, Kerber rallies past Sasnovich

Roger Federer moved into the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the 69th time on Saturday, overcoming a raucous home crowd and the last British man in the draw Cameron Norrie in an entertaining 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win at Wimbledon.

Federer kept his dream alive of a record-extending ninth singles title.

Federer said this Wimbledon held special significance for him.

“I hope there is a little bit more left in me as this one is special for it is the last slam before I hit the big 40,” said Federer, the third oldest man to reach the Last 16 in the Open era.

Norrie follows two-time champion Andy Murray and British number one Dan Evans in exiting in the third round. Federer’s half of the draw looks more treacherous than defending champion Novak Djokovic’s with two of the younger generation Daniil Medvedev and Germany’s Alexander Zverev potentially lurking further down the line.

Zverev ended big-serving Taylor Fritz’s impressive campaign — 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) -- given he exited the French Open in a wheelchair due to a knee injury.

On the women’s side, Coco Gauff isn’t the only teenager making a splash at Wimbledon this time. Emma Raducanu is suddenly stealing some of the spotlight.

The 18-year-old Raducanu and the 17-year-old Gauff both advanced to the fourth round of the grass-court Grand Slam within minutes of each other on Saturday.

For Gauff, it’s the second time she’s reached the second week at Wimbledon after her breakthrough performance in 2019, and she has already become a Centre Court regular. For Raducanu, who is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament, it’s an unexpected run that has given the British crowd an instant new favorite.

Raducanu became the youngest British woman in the Open era to reach the fourth round at the All England Club by beating veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 7-5.

Raducanu was given a wild-card entry into the tournament but looked right at home playing on No. 1 Court, winning eight straight games to take a 3-0 lead in the second set. But she struggled to put away Cirstea, failing to convert three straight break points in the next game. She was then broken and missed another five break points at 4-3 in a marathon game that lasted nearly 15 minutes.

And she needed three match points in the final game before Cirstea netted a forehand.

Gauff had an easier time completing a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kaja Juvan on Centre Court. Gauff finished with 21 winners and broke her opponent five times.

She will next play former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, who beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 2-6, 6-0, 6-1.

Tomljanovic accuses Ostapenko of ‘lying’ in stormy win: Raducanu will face Ajla Tomljanovic, who was involved in a heated exchange with Jelena Ostapenko after their third-round match. Tomljanovic accused Ostapenko of faking an injury to get a medical timeout while trailing 4-0 in the third set. They traded insults at the net after the match.

Tomljanovic was furious that 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko called the trainer at 0-4 in the final set, claiming she was suffering from an abdominal injury.

“You know she’s lying, right? We all know,” the 28-year-old Australian told the chair umpire.

“Are you taking into any consideration that she looked fine?”

The medical timeout resulted in a 10-minute delay before the match resumed and Tomljanovic clinched a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.

The pair then had an angry exchange at the net at the end of the third round clash.

Injured Kyrgios quits Wimbledon in third round: Nick Kyrgios had to retire with an abdominal injury after the second set of his third-round match against No. 16 Felix Auger-Aliassime. Kyrgios told a trainer he couldn’t serve properly and was worried about tearing a muscle.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” Kyrgios said. “I’m trying but I can’t even ... I can’t serve anymore. I can’t do it.”

Kyrgios won the first set 6-2 but lost the second 6-1 on No. 1 Court.

Agencies