Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada , World No. 19 gave a splendid and gritty performance at the Wimbledon 2021 as he came back from 2-4 down in the first and second sets, withstood an Alexander Zverev resurgence in the third and fourth set before defeating the fourth seed from Germany 6-4, 7-6(6), 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 and securing a quarterfinal berth.
Auger-Aliassime said after his five-set win over Zverev that it was a “dream come true”.
The 20-year-old Felix will face seventh seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the last-eight.
While the contest between Federer and Lorenzo was even more thrilling for fans, though Roger didn’t sound very excited about Wimbledon going 100% capacity for the final. After his victory over Lorenzo Federer said “I’m extremely happy. Tricky conditions inside and outside against Lorenzo, always dangerous.”
“But I felt like after that first set, I was able to control things. It was a great match. I couldn’t be more excited to be in the quarters. It’s a big moment and I’m very, very happy.”
Federer wins the battle with Lorenzo at Wimbledon 2021
The eight-time champion also extended his lead at the top of the all-time list for most Wimbledon quarter-final appearances, ahead of Jimmy Connors.
At 39 years and 337 days, Federer is the oldest man to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in the Open Era, breaking the record set by Ken Rosewall (39 years, 224 days) in 1974.
“It’s the biggest victory of my life, under a closed roof the atmosphere was amazing and I’m living this win with you,” said Auger-Aliassime.
“It was super difficult, knowing I have never beaten him, let alone won a set against Alex,” said Auger-Aliassime. “When he started to come back I really needed to dig deep and without the fans it would have been a lot tougher.”
The raucous support he received created a more vibrant atmosphere than at other contests spread around the grounds, whether involving victories for past title winners Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber — she ended 17-year-old American Coco Gauff’s run — or for one of the 11 players who earned a debut trip to the quarterfinals at the grass-court major.
“We’ll look back in 20 years, 50 years, from now and this is it,” Federer said. “This was the last Middle Sunday, the last Manic Monday.”