Roger Federer will try to book a spot in the second week at Wimbledon when he takes the court against Cameron Norrie on Saturday. Perhaps the most intriguing contest of the third-round schedule is Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Nick Kyrgios.
(6) Roger Federer vs. (29) Cameron Norrie
Federer lost two sets to Adrian Mannarino in the Wimbledon first round and on Saturday he will run into a player who is arguably the most similar to Mannarino on tour. Norrie is also a counter-punching lefty who has an extremely flat backhand that works great on grass. Of course, the 25-year-old Brit has been great on every surface this season. He is up to a career-high of No. 34 in the world thanks to winning an incredible 31 main-tour matches already in 2021. Norrie, who was runner-up at Queen’s Club, booked his spot in round three at the All-England Club with victories over
Lucas Pouille and Alex Bolt–the latter via a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 beatdown.
After getting a fifth-set retirement from Mannarino, Federer raised his level in big way to defeat Richard Gasquet 7-6(1), 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday. That was an encouraging sign for the eight-time Wimbledon champion, but at 39 years old you don’t know what you are going to get from him on any given day and his 2021 comeback has been mediocre at best so far. Federer will have enough to survive this matchup on his beloved grass, but a red-hot Norrie can make it difficult.
Pick: Federer in 5
(16) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Nick Kyrgios
Auger-Aliassime and Kyrgios will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time on grass when they meet again on Saturday. Their only previous encounter came two years ago at Queen’s Club, where Auger-Aliassime prevailed 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-5. That summer was one period when Kyrgios’ bad behavior and relative disinterest in results was at its peak–which is saying a lot. Auger-Aliassime said of the Aussie following their somewhat contentious Queen’s match that he “could never be friends with someone like that.”
They haven’t had any incidents since then — after all, Kyrgios has not been on tour much — but there still won’t be any love lost in this one. It will be a fiery contest, and Kyrgios will surely be a lot more motivated than he was at Queen’s Club. The world No. 60, who is playing for the first time since the Australian Open, upset Halle champion Ugo Humbert 9-7 in the fifth set and then destroyed Gianluca Mager in straights. Auger-Aliassime is also in fine form, as he finished runner-up in Stuttgart, reached the semis in Halle (lost to Humbert in a third-set tiebreaker), and beat Thiago Monteiro and Mikael Ymer earlier this week. This should be a great one, and on this surface Kyrgios’ bigger and more reliable serve will likely be the difference in the pressure-packed moments.
Pick: Kyrgios in 5
WWW?
If Fed wins, I don’t think it will be in five. I think he will continue to play well in this match; Fed in 4.
Norrie doesnt have the game to trouble Fed on grass if he’s anyway playing well.
Good win for Roger over a quality opponent, easily his best in quite awhile. He looks like he’s getting more comfortable out there.
Med v Fed coming up
Not yet.
Yeah, Sonego will be tough
One of my favourite moments from ‘Saturday’ was Johnny Mac and BJK reminding us of the same-maned song by the Bay City Rollers … Im old enough also to remember 😉
One of my fave moments was JMac saying he was very surprised that Rafa “allowed” Toni to coach FAA. Rafa would be very surprised to hear that Toni needs his permission to do *anything*. Toni would be equally surprised!
same – named
Fed needs to win the next one in 3 or max 4. Any thoughts in Sonego? I thought Norrie was tougher than Sonego this season.
You’re right, Norrie was probably marginally tougher than Sonego.
Fed should win in 3. Sonego might snatch a set but that should be it.