The opening set seemed to take an age: almost an hour had passed in a neck-and-neck battle when, with Sonego facing the most crucial of break points at 5-5, rain started falling.īy then, Federer’s vulnerabilities had already been evident for the Italian to capitalise on if he so wished, even losing 11 successive points at one stage.īut that all changed following a 20-minute delay for the Centre Court roof to be closed, after which Sonego, the world No 27, wilted. Not that it was smooth sailing from the outset. It is the work of a man concentrating on what he must do, and precisely when and how to do it. He does not interact with the crowd as much as he once did, preferring instead to remain sternly focused. There was little in the way of Federer’s flamboyance on display here few moments of jaw-dropping brilliance and more errors than there used to be.
Now we’ll see how much more I’ve got left in the tank.” “I feel that way, so it’s very rewarding and it’s a good feeling. “I was willing to take losses for the sake of information, just to be out there, get the body in shape for hopefully when Wimbledon comes around that I can actually wake up in the morning and feel all right, that I can still go out and play five sets. You have to prove it again to yourself that you can actually do it. “When you’re me, with the year I had, it’s all question marks all over the place. “It’s nice to see that the work I put in paid off, that I’m able to play at this level with best-of-five sets,” said Federer, who underwent two knee surgeries last year. Perhaps we might even dare dream of a repeat of the last Wimbledon men’s final when Federer took on Novak Djokovic. On this basis, there is mileage yet for a man who will become the oldest grand-slam quarter-finalist in the Open era. “It’s all a bonus, and we’ll see how far it can go,” he had said. It is impossible not to mention his advancing years whenever he steps on court these days, but Federer himself hinted at acceptance that his prime is behind him before this fourth-round match. What Federer lacks in youth, he makes up for in wisdom. The relative ease with which he progressed to a 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Lorenzo Sonego on Wimbledon’s last ever “Manic Monday” suggests the 20-time grand slam champion is rounding into this tournament at just the right time.īearing a passing resemblance to The Karate Kid in his headband, Sonego was handed a lesson in grass-court match play from tennis’s own Mr Miyagi. This was not Federer at his wonderfully fluid best – those days are probably gone – but it did not need to be. How long a man just a month shy of his 40th birthday can carry on making such sartorial choices might ordinarily be questionable, but Roger Federer continues to do things convention suggests people his age should not. In this bandana battle, there was only ever one winner.
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