Seven-time champion Roger Federer reached the Wimbledon fourth round for the 15th time on Saturday with a 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4 win over Germany’s Mischa Zverev, despite suffering from a head cold.
Federer will face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I’m feeling better. I’m definitely feeling better. Today I feel 50 per cent better than I did two days ago. I’m happy things are progressing well, and I hope that on Monday I’m back to 100 per cent,” said Federer, referring to the cold.
“I thought it was a fun match to play against a serve-and-volley player. You’ll always see some lobs, passing shots and drop shots,” added the Swiss after a fifth win over Zverev, three of which have come this year.
The victory was Federer’s 317th at a Grand Slam as he continues his bid to become the oldest ever Wimbledon champion.
“We go one round at a time and I must say it’s always the first goal to get to the second week at some stage,” he said. “I’m very happy now to sit back, relax a day and come back strong, hopefully on Monday.”
Federer has never lost to Dimitrov in five meetings.
However, just like the Swiss, 13th seeded Dimitrov has yet to drop a set at this year’s Wimbledon and was a semi-finalist in 2014.
“Every time I play against him he’s stronger than the time before. He’s in the perfect age right now where he starts to understand his game best,” Federer said.
“He’s physically strong, he’s mentally taken the next step again. That’s what you expect from a player of his calibre. I’m ready for a tough one but sure again, another exciting match because he’s a great shotmaker.”
Meanwhile, three-time champion Novak Djokovic admitted on Saturday that he has rediscovered his passion for tennis after making the Wimbledon fourth round for the 10th time.
The former world number one eased to a 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (2) win over Ernests Gulbis of Latvia to set up a last-16 clash with unseeded Adrian Mannarino of France.
It’s a far cry from 12 months ago when Djokovic was bundled out in the third round by Sam Querrey, a defeat which precipitated a decline which saw him relieved of all the four majors he had held at the same time.
On Saturday, his former coach Boris Becker said he had witnessed enough in the first week of Wimbledon to confirm that the Serb has rediscovered his love of the sport.
“Boris knows me very well. So he’s right when he says that the passion is back,” said Djokovic.
“I’ve been feeling better on the court in the last couple of months. But especially on the grass court this season so far, every match that I’ve played, I felt very comfortable. When you’re playing well, then you’re feeling well, then you’re even more motivated and passionate to see how far it can take you.”
Second seed Djokovic will take a 1-0 career lead over left-handed Mannarino into Monday’s last-16 clash. Twelve months ago he defeated the Frenchman in the second round.
Gulbis, now ranked at a lowly 589 after once reaching 10 in the world in 2014 when he defeated Roger Federer on his way to the French Open semi-finals, fired 37 unforced errors to Djokovic’s meagre 12.
