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Roger Federer has joked that the Wimbledon crowd should cheer for him over home hope Cameron Norrie in the third round on Saturday – because of his rich history at the tournament.
The Swiss icon, an eight-time Wimbledon champion, came out on top 7-6 (7-1), 6-1, 6-3 against Richard Gasquet in round two and will now take on British No 2 Norrie next up.
Federer completed his first SW19 match since the 2019 final after his first-round tie ended as a walkover win due to Adrian Mannarino’s knee injury.
The first set against Gasquet went the way of serve but after a convincing tiebreak triumph, Federer turned on the style to dominate the second and third sets.
Gasquet saved a match point at 5-3 in the third but Federer then held serve and converted his second match point to clinch a richly-deserved victory and move to 19-2 in his head-to-head record against the world No 56.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has only ever played Norrie once before at the 2019 Hopman Cup.
Norrie had never previously reached the third round of the grass-court Grand Slam before he saw off Australian Alex Bolt and will expect to be well backed by his compatriots on Centre Court, even against the much-loved Federer.
And Federer said post-match: “I heard Cameron Norrie and then I heard boos and cheers and then I didn’t hear your question anymore!
“I hope the crowd is going to get into it, regardless of who they cheer. I understand if it’s for him and if it’s for me it’s because of the last 20 years and all of the big matches I’ve played here.
“Cam’s a good guy too. He’s had a wonderful year, played great at Queen’s. He’s backed it up again here.
“I know it’s going to be a tough match and I’m happy for him but enough now – he needs to go out, I need to go through and we’ll see what happens after!
“But no I’m looking forward to the game. I hope you are too.”
He added of his defeat of Gasquet: “The roof is pulled back and the atmosphere is even better. It’s a nicer look.
“I know Richard really well, we’ve played so many times against each other. It’s always a pleasure to play against him. He’s got the most wonderful backhand and after he ripped that down the line I thought maybe if I can do something just even similar I would be happy with it.
“I got on a roll after that. I’m happy. He inspired me on that shot. It was a wonderful match for me. I was really happy with my performance today.
“Tough first set and after that a great second set. I was just a little bit better on the third. I’m very, very happy of course.”
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