Roger Federer jokes: 'I played a lot of tennis but never against Tennys'

World no. 3 Roger Federer will compete in the quarter-final of the Australian Open for the record-breaking 15th time, defeating Marton Fucsovics in four sets and just over two hours. It was essential for the Swiss to shift into a higher gear after losing an opening set and bring the encounter home without spending too much time on the court, battling against John Millman for four hours just two nights before. After that early setback, Roger found the way to tame Marton's shots and dominate from the second set, keeping everything under control and setting the quarter-final meeting with Tennys Sandgren, the lowest-ranked player left in the draw. After failing to qualify for the main draw in Melbourne for five straight years, Tennys defeated Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem in 2018 to reach the quarter-final out of nowhere, ranked 97th in the world.

Two years later, the American is barely keeping the place in the top-100 after losing the points from Auckland last year where he claimed the first and only ATP title, struggling to make an impression on the ATP Tour in the rest of the previous season and finding the form here in Melbourne to enter the last eight. Tennys took down the best from the Italian squad to clinch victories over Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini, setting the first clash against Roger Federer and hoping for a miracle against one of the greatest players of all time. Following his win over Fucsovics, Roger joked about the fact he has played a lot of tennis throughout his career but actually never against someone named Tennys, looking forward to the upcoming clash against a guy with a perfect name for our sport.

"Tennys wasn't gonna be a baseball player, not with that name. It is unreal, actually. I'm looking forward to playing against him; I never played against Tennys; I played a lot of tennis in my life but never against Tennys."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36tRKib