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Federer: 'Murray Has Huge Admiration From All The Players'

  • Posted: Jul 04, 2021

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray rolled back the years at SW19 this week, recreating magical moments on Centre Court before his third-round exit to 10th seed Denis Shapovalov on Friday.

The Scot was competing in singles at The Championships for the first time since 2017 due to his ongoing injury struggles with his hip. Despite Murray’s disappointment that he could not advance further, Swiss superstar Roger Federer was delighted to see the return of the 34-year-old, whom he has great respect for.

“He should be very, very happy about himself. I think he has a huge admiration from all the players [for] what he’s going through because that is not just some simple knee thing like maybe some others. This is major stuff he’s going through,” Federer said after beating Cameron Norrie on Saturday.

“I wish him only the best. Everybody hopes he stays on tour and keeps on going, to be honest. Most of all he needs to be happy. That goes with being healthy clearly,” Federer added.

Murray, the former World No. 1, overcame 24th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round before fighting back from two-sets-to-one down to defeat German Oscar Otte under the roof on Centre Court. 

Federer, who will face 23rd Seed Lorenzo Sonego in the fourth round on Monday, enjoyed practising with Murray before the tournament on the lawns of Wimbledon.

“It was also nice playing with Andy, actually feeling the ball that was coming back from him, just seeing what can he do also in terms of his physical ability,” Federer said. “I watched a little bit yesterday side-by-side with the football.”

Federer holds a 2-0 ATP Head2Head record against Murray at Wimbledon, most notably defeating him in the 2012 final. However, they have not faced each other since the semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in 2015, largely due to Murray’s injuries. Federer only competed at the Australian Open last year as he recovered from two knee surgeries, so understands the challenges the World No. 118 is facing.

“I totally know what he’s trying to say because you have to make compromises every single day,” Federer added. “Instead of practise, you have to rest, instead of practising three hours, you can only practise an hour and a half.

“On top of it all, you can’t probably play 35 tournaments anymore. Now you’re playing maybe 25, maybe 15 or less. All these things really matter in a player’s mind.

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Medvedev Turns The Tide Against Cilic To Reach R4 At Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 03, 2021

Down two-sets-to-love on No.1 Court, Daniil Medvedev kept his composure and raised his level to overcome 2017 finalist Marin Cilic and reach the second week at Wimbledon for the first time.

Medvedev extended his grass-court winning streak to seven matches with the 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory, his first time coming back from two sets down at a Grand Slam.

“It was an unbelievable match,” Medvedev said in an on-court interview. “I think tennis fans always enjoy watching players come back from two-sets-to-love down and for it to be five sets. I certainly do so when I watch tennis on the TV. It’s my first comeback [from 0-2 sets down], and actually what’s amazing is against David Goffin at Wimbledon in 2019, I was two-sets-to-love down and I had a break in the fifth set, but I lost. So when I left the court after the fourth set today, I told myself, ‘It’s not going to be another one of those’.

“So I’m really happy. When I was 5-0, 40/0 up at the end and Marin came back to 2-5, I thought to myself, ‘Again..!’ Marin is an amazing player and for the first two sets he basically destroyed me.”

The World No. 2 arrived at the All England Club high on confidence after claiming his 11th ATP Tour title at the Mallorca Championships (d. Querrey), his first tour-level trophy on grass courts. He continued the momentum to become the seventh Russian man to complete a set of Round of 16 appearances at all four Grand Slams, and the second to do so in as many days after Andrey Rublev achieved the feat on Friday.

With Rublev and Karen Khachanov already through to the second week, Medvedev’s win also marks the first time that three Russian men have reached this stage at Wimbledon in the Open Era (since April 1968).

The Russian  will next face 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz for a spot in the quarter-finals, where he could meet Roger Federer should the Swiss win his next match over Lorenzo Sonego. Hurkacz moved into the fourth round, his best result at a Grand Slam, with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alexander Bublik on Court 12.

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Second seed Medvedev was in trouble in the early stretches as the 32nd seed followed his booming serve with smart forays inside the court, winning 25 of 36 points at the net. After trading breaks of serve to start the first set, Cilic charged through the tie-break before sealing the 70-minute opener with a smash. 

Cilic raced through the second set with a double break, before Medvedev finally halted his momentum in the third. The Russian took advantage of some shaky service games from the big-serving Croatian, putting more returns in play and keeping the ball low to go up 5-2. 

Medvedev continued to turn the tide as the unforced errors piled up off Cilic’s racquet. He kept 6’6” Cilic on the move and went to the drop shot with more regularity and success in the fourth set. He raced ahead to a 5-0, triple-break lead in the fifth set. Medvedev converted his fourth match after Cilic pushed a backhand long point to advance.

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