Tim Henman says Roger Federer's level of play has been "pretty average", but claims the Swiss is moving in the "right direction"
Tim Henman believes that while Roger Federer's performances have improved since his first-round win over Adrian Mannarino, the Swiss still remains a shadow of his former all-conquering self.
Henman is a former World No. 4 who made it to the semifinals of Wimbledon four times. He also enjoyed a healthy rivalry with Federer, beating the 20-time Major champion six times in 13 matches.
During a recent conversation on the BBC, the Brit admitted Federer had shown signs of improvement after scraping past Mannarino in the first round. However, Henman believes Federer's overall level is still "average."
"Federer has moved in the right direction but I still think there needs to be a lot of improvement in his game if he's going to progress," Henman said on BBC. "Against Mannarino and Norrie, they were two lefties and they were awkward. I thought his level of play was pretty average from what we've come to expect."
"But in the context of the last 18 months where he's played so little tennis and then against Gasquet in the middle, that's when he looked a lot more comfortable," Henman added. "But there's no doubt that he's got to keep improving his form."
Henman believes Federer will continue backing himself with each win, and admitted that the Swiss' superlative record at Wimbledon means he can never be counted out.
"He's given himself that chance (with each win)," Henman said. Anything is possible. When you're talking about Federer on a grass court, he's still in with a chance."
Federer had not yet played his fourth-round match against Lorenzo Sonego at the time of Henman's comments. The Swiss made short work of the Italian on Monday to move into the last eight at Wimbledon for a record-extending 18th time.
Roger Federer will play Daniil Medvedev or Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals on Wednesday
While Roger Federer was able to book his spot in the last eight on Monday, Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz, one of whom will face the Swiss next, were not as fortunate.
With the scoreboard reading 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 3-4 in favor of the Russian, rain played spoilsport, causing the fourth-round match to be postponed. They will resume their encounter later today with play scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm local time.
The winner of that clash will have much less time than Federer to recover ahead of the quarterfinals on Wednesday.