Roger Federer reached the Wimbledon last 16 for the 18th time on Saturday with a four-sets win over Cameron Norrie, the last British man in the tournament.
Eight-time champion Federer triumphed 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and will be playing in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the 69th time in his career.
“It’s a nice stat to hear. It proves to me when I wake up in the morning that has happened,” said Federer who will turn 40 in five weeks’ time.
“I have loved every minute and I hope there’s a bit more left in me. It’s a pleasure still playing right now.
“This one is special because I’m almost 40 — at this point it’s all a bonus and I will see how far I can go here.”
Federer is the third-oldest man to reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon in the Open Era — after Pancho Gonzales (41) in 1969 and Ken Rosewall (40) in 1975.
He could have wrapped up Saturday’s match in straight sets when he had two break points in the 11th game of the third set.
However, Norrie dug deep to force the tie into a fourth set but when Federer broke for 5-4, there was no second opportunity.
Federer finished with 48 winners as he won his 104th Wimbledon match.
He will face Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.
Kyrgios retires
Nick Kyrgios retired with an injury after the second set of his third-round match against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Kyrgios appeared to struggle with an abdominal injury and told a trainer that 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.
coco in 2nd week
Coco Gauff is back into the second week of Wimbledon.
The 17-year-old American matched her breakout result from 2019 by reaching the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kaja Juvan on Centre Court. Gauff finished with 21 winners and broke her opponent five times.
Gauff will face former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber on Monday.
In men’s play, No 7-seeded Matteo Berrettini advanced with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Aljaz Bedene.
Emma Raducanu became the youngest British woman to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon in the Open era.
The 18-year-old Raducanu converted her third match point to beat veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 7-5 on No 1 Court. She is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament.
Raducanu won eight straight games to take a 3-0 lead in the second set, then struggled to put away Cirstea. She failed to convert three straight break points in the next game, then was broken and missed another five break points at 4-3.
She needed another three attempts in the final game before Cirstea netted a forehand to end the match.
Deborah Jevans was the previous youngest British woman to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon at age 19 in 1979.