Roger Federer jokes about postponement of Medvedev-Hurkacz match, says "those guys are young, they can recover"
Roger Federer moved into the Wimbledon quarterfinals by beating 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 win over Lorenzo Sonego on Monday. With this win, the Swiss has reached the last eight at SW19 for a record-extending 18th time in his career.
Federer has also become the oldest quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in the Open Era, managing the feat one month shy of his 40th birthday. But the eight-time champion doesn't yet know his quarterfinal opponent, since the match between Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz has been postponed to Tuesday.
All matches on the outer courts were suspended due to rain late in the day, at which point Medvedev was leading Hurkacz 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 3-4. Given that the duo will complete their match on Tuesday, the winner will receive a shorter turnaround period for his quarterfinal match against Roger Federer.
When informed of this fact during his on-court interview, Federer admitted that the change in schedule was "unfair". But in the same breath, the Swiss pointed out that both players were younger than him and as such wouldn't need as much rest.
"It's unfair," Federer said. "(But) Those guys are young, they can recover, so it's not a problem for them. Unfortunately they're very good too."
"Hopefully it rains again tomorrow," he added. "I'm kidding!"
The 39-year-old also expressed his delight at making the quarterfinals, calling it a "big moment".
"I couldn’t be more excited to be in the quarters," Federer said. "So it's a big moment and I'm very, very happy."
Roger Federer is into his 58th quarterfinal at a Grand Slam
Roger Federer's 18th quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon will also be his 58th overall at a Slam, an Open Era record. In addition to 18 at Wimbledon, Federer has 15 quarterfinals at the Australian Open, 12 at Roland Garros and 13 at the US Open.
The Swiss last made a Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open in 2020, which was his 57th.
Roger Federer's arch-rival Novak Djokovic is second on the all-time list with 50 quarterfinal appearances to his name. The Serb achieved this feat by beating Cristian Garin in his fourth-round match at Wimbledon on Monday.
However, Djokovic has only 12 quarterfinal appearances at SW19, which pales in comparison to the Swiss' tally.
Rafael Nadal is third on the ATP list with 44 quarterfinal appearances under his belt. While the 20-time Major champion has entered the last eight on 15 occasions at Roland Garros, he has managed to achieve the same feat only seven times at Wimbledon.