Federer defeated Australian Open semi-finalist Pouille 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in two hours and 6 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.
"It's a nice number to achieve and I have enjoyed my time at the slams. They've given me some of the most memorable and special moments on a tennis court, so of course it's nice winning that much.
"I don't know how many years I have got left but at the moment I am really enjoying myself. I love to move on the grass, it comes very naturally to me. It's been wonderful.
"I'm very happy how it's going so far at Wimbledon. I thought it was a good match with Lucas today. Of course, I hope it's going to take a special performance from somebody to stop me," Federer said.
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 Stuttgart 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 so 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 points less than Schwartzman overall, but he struck 22 aces and hit 75 winners in his victory.
"I don't know him very well. 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. "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."
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.
Date: 6 July 2019, Source: ATP and Reuters
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