Roger Federer Speaks About Kei Nishikori Ahead of His 100th Victory at Wimbledon

World Number three, Roger Federer is contented after his fourth-round victory as he steamrolled over the big server, Matteo Berrettini in just 73 minutes and the Swiss committed just five unforced errors. 

The Swiss maestro reflected his thoughts upon his next adversary, Kei Nishikori. The Japanese has just dropped a set till now at this year’s Wimbledon and Roger Federer is presuming Nishikori would endeavour to give his best tennis in their quarterfinal battle.

“I think it’s going to be tough, plus he’s getting into quarters with a lot of energy. I remember some of the Slams recently he arrived into the later stages with maybe some tough matches going into it. So far it’s been really easy for him,” Roger Federer said.

If the World Number four, Nishikori pulls off an upset on Wednesday he would step into the last four stages of Wimbledon for the very first time in his 12-year-old professional career.

“I think he’s ready. I’m a big fan of his game. I think he’s got one of the best backhands in the game that we have right now. He’s a great return player. Solid mentally. I always thought he was a great talent,” Roger Federer continued.

The duo has once met on the turf in Halle, where Federer won in straight sets. In their last meeting in London at ATP Finals 2018, the Swiss legend fell to Nishikori in straight sets. And now, the Uniqlo men will be playing against each other for the second time in Grand Slam after their Melbourne meeting in 2017. 

After wobbling a bit in the opening round of Wimbledon Championships 2019, Roger Federer has now successfully collected 99th match wins in the lawns of SW19. In his previous match, he reached the milestone of becoming the first man to stack up 350 major wins. 

Till now, Federer has spent 6 hours 47 minutes in total in all his four matches at this year’s Wimbledon and that time records the lowest among the present SW19 quarterfinalists. 

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic also had comfortable fourth-round victories over their opponents today and the ‘Big Three’ of tennis, collectively lost 18 games in their pre-quarterfinal matches.

The road to Wimbledon finals wouldn’t be a cakewalk anymore for the professionals as the quarterfinal line up is set and barring the American skyscraper, Sam Querrey all other contestants remaining in the men’s draw are seeded.