The pressure may have escalated for Andy Murray to prevail at Wimbledon for the second time and for Roger Federer to win an elusive 18th major title when world No. 1 Novak Djokovic fell to Sam Querrey in the third round. But neither Murray nor Federer showed any sign of it during their respective fourth-round matches on Monday.
Despite having to face former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Nick Kyrgios, Murray continued his flawless run through the draw by picking up another straight-set win, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1. The world No. 2 cracked eight aces without double-faulting and never gave his opponent a single break-point chance to advance in one hour and 42 minutes.
“It was a good first set; the rest of the match was pretty pathetic,” Kyrgios explained. “[Murray] played pretty well, as well. I don’t think he missed too many balls, either.”
Like Murray, Federer has also refused to drop even a single set so far this fortnight. Following routine victories over Guido Pella, Marcus Willis, and Daniel Evans, the seven-time Wimbledon winner made similarly quick work of Steve Johnson on Monday. A 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 victory required just one hour and 36 minutes to be completed.
For a fleetingly brief moment, Johnson looked poised to make the contest somewhat interesting when he broke Federer early in the third set. The recent Nottingham title winner, however, gave it right back in the following game and never recovered. Federer broke again at 5-5 and eventually sealed the deal with his sixth ace.
Next up for the 34-year-old Swiss is Marin Cilic, who got a retirement from Kei Nishikori while leading 6-1, 5-1. A rematch of the 2014 U.S. Open final was derailed by Nishikori’s lingering rib injury.
Now a rematch of a 2014 U.S. Open semifinal is in the works. Cilic memorably stunned Federer on his way to the title but the Croat is still just 1-5 lifetime in the head-to-head series.
“I practiced with him when I arrived here at Wimbledon,” Federer said of Cilic. “He was playing great; 1‑2, 1‑2, 1‑2, serving, boom, forehand, serving, boom, backhand. He’s very aggressive. He blew me off the court at the U.S. Open. I know what I’m getting into. He’s really tough to play…. I’ve never seen him serve that consistently well (as he did in New York). He can clearly do it here at Wimbledon, too.”
[polldaddy poll=9462015]
[polldaddy poll=9462194]
this final looks like a lock