Eight-time champion Roger Federer was pushed early in his third-round Wimbledon clash against No. 27 seed Lucas Pouille, appearing in danger of dropping the first set for the second time this week. But one 10-minute surge was all the 37-year-old Swiss needed to grab the match with both hands and move into the second week at The Championships for the 17th time.

Federer defeated Australian Open semi-finalist Pouille 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(4) in two hours and  minutes, becoming the first player in history to earn 350 Grand Slam singles wins. He is also the first man in the Open Era to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon 17 times, breaking a tie with Jimmy Connors.

“I’m very happy how it’s going so far. I thought it was a good match with Lucas today,” Federer said. “Of course, I hope it’s going to take a special performance from somebody to stop me.”

More From The Championships
Rafa Races Past Jo
Kei Sweeps Into The Last 16
Querrey & Sandgren Dig Deep

Pouille reached just one tour-level quarter-final since advancing to the last four in Melbourne this January. But the 25-year-old came out firing in his second appearance in the third round at SW19. The Frenchman went blow-for-blow with Federer in the early going, engaging in fast-paced rallied on the baseline with the 102-time tour-level titlist.

But Federer proved capable of maintaining his level in those types of exchanges, and that was key in determining the patterns of the match. The second seed hit 39 winners to just 14 unforced errors to advance to a battle against No. 17 seed and recent MercedesCup champion Matteo Berrettini, who defeated No. 24 seed Diego Schwartzman in a five-set thriller.

The biggest moment of the match arguably came at 5-5 in the first set, when Pouille earned a break point that, if converted, would have allowed him to serve for the opener. Federer used two overhead smashes to stave off that chance, and never looked back from there, winning the next six games to take a commanding lead.

“I’m happy that I’m able to raise my level of play,” Federer said. “There was a great run of games midway through the second, also after winning the first. I like seeing moments like that in a match for me.”

Pouille recovered well in the third set, using good depth to keep Federer from completely exerting his will on Centre Court. The Frenchman saved the first match point he faced while serving at 5-6, eventually forcing a tie-break. But Federer used a strong return to take control of a point on his first return point of the tie-break, and he stormed on from there. The 19-time tour-level grass-court titlist closed out his triumph when Pouille hit a backhand into the net.

Federer has never previously faced Berrettini, who has climbed from No. 81 to No. 20 in the ATP Rankings since the start of Wimbledon last year. The Italian saved three match points in the fourth set before outlasting Schwartzman 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 in four hours and 19 minutes, falling to the Court 18 grass after Schwartzman missed a backhand on his first match point. It was the longest match of the tournament thus far.

The 23-year-old has now won 12 of his 13 tour-level grass-court matches this year, despite having been 1-3 on the surface previously. Berrettini won two fewer points than Schwartzman overall, but he struck 22 aces and hit 75 winners in his victory.

“[It was] a really tough one. I wasn’t feeling so good. I guess also because he was playing good, he was annoying me, the way he plays,” Berrettini said. “I was a little bit nervous, too. But the good thing is the match was best of five, so I had time to figure it out and to improve my mind. It was a tough one, definitely.”

Berrettini admitted he cheered for Federer when he was growing up, but stopped when he began to see Federer in the same tournaments draws as him. To the Italian, facing the Swiss is a dream come true. But for Federer, he expects a challenge.

“I don’t know him very well on top of it. So that makes it a bit more tricky, as well. I saw him play a little bit in Halle. Saw his run, of course, in Stuttgart. Now he’s backing it up here again. That’s not easy to do, especially when you’re sort of newer on the Tour,” Federer said, before cracking a smile. “I’m expecting a tough one. I hope he has no energy left after today. I’m sure he’ll recover. He’s young. I’m sure we’ll see a tough match on Monday.”

Did You Know?
Federer is into the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 65th time, extending his record for most trips to the fourth round of a major in the Open Era.

Thirteen years after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer all reached the fourth round together at Wimbledon, the trio have returned to Week 2 at The Championships.

Nadal is through to the second week here for the ninth time after a convincing straight-sets win on Saturday over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The remaining players in the draw include an intriguing mix of veterans and rising stars, but the past success of the Big 3 at this event leave them as the players to beat. 

“What we achieved in the Grand Slams, in tennis in general, during the last 14, 15 years is something special,” said Nadal. “To have three players that achieved that much in the same moment is something difficult to repeat. But here we are. Of course, somebody is going to beat us or we are going to leave because we are not young anymore.”

Nadal’s draw was hardly ideal with a second-round match against Nick Kyrgios and a third-round clash with Tsonga, but the Spaniard has passed his tests so far with flying colours. He’s especially dangerous once he sinks his teeth into the grass of The All England Club. On the eight occasions when Nadal has cleared the second week, he’s made it to the championship match in five of them.

His serve has also gotten stronger with each match. Nadal didn’t face a break point against Tsonga and only dropped 10 service points (53/63) on the day.

“I know I have been serving well. But for my side it’s not only about the serve,” said Nadal. “At the same time my shots from the baseline, the continuation after the serve, has been [done] very well, playing aggressive, not many mistakes, being very precise.”

The Spaniard will now battle Joao Sousa. He leads the Portuguese player 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry. Nadal plans to hit the practice court on the middle Sunday as he looks to continue his path towards a third Wimbledon title.

“It’s important that after the tough draw, I was able to find a way to be in the second week. That gives me some positive feelings,” said Nadal. “Tomorrow is one more day off to practise. Not a big physically demanding [match] today, so tomorrow is a day to keep working hard on some specific things.”

Sam Querrey dug deep and drew upon his greater grass-court experience on Saturday at The Championships, Wimbledon.

The American booked his place in the Wimbledon Last 16 for the fourth time with a hard-fought 7-6(3), 7-6(10), 6-3 victory over John Millman of Australia in one hour and 57 minutes on Court 17. He’ll next play compatriot Tennys Sandgren on Monday.

Querrey recovered from 1-3 down in the first set, but saved two set points at 5/6 and 7/8 in the second-set tie-break, courtesy of groundstroke errors from Millman. Forehand errors cost Millman in the third set with Querrey breaking serve at 3-3 and in the ninth game.

The 31-year-old Querrey, lost 10 points on first serve and hit 52 winners — including 27 aces. He advanced to last week’s Nature Valley International final (l. to Fritz).

Sandgren committed just 18 unforced errors in a 6-3, 7-6(12), 6-3 win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini, the No. 12 seed and won of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April.

Sandgren, who is competing at the All England Club for the second year, saved four set points in the second-set tie-break (6/7, 7/8, 8/9 and 10/11) en route to the fourth round for the first time.