"I am super relieved" says Federer after 1250th career win over Norrie

It was a significant victory for Federer who achieved what he desperately wanted when he arrived in London and that is to reach the 2nd round. Many analysts have noted that if Federer manages to do that he will be a dangerous opponent at SW19. After the match he said:

“I’m super relieved as it was a tough battle. I was so close to serving it out in the third set and I thought he played excellent today. I think I kept a high level of play, but he did well to break me at the end of the third set. Overall, I can be very happy with the way I played.”

Federer also touched upon expressing his emotions visibly at the end of the match which is usually something we see only in bigger matches. He said:

“I thought I was extremely calm throughout the match. Maybe that's why I saved all the emotions for the very end. It meant a a lot to me, because, I thought actually [that] I played a really good match throughout, except maybe that one game where Norrie [broke] me."

Federer also gave credit to Norrie for pushing him to play his best:

“Credit to him for pushing me. I know he's had a really good season so far. He's played a ton of matches and a lot of tournaments… That's why I was extremely happy that I found ways to fight back in that fourth set.”

The win was Federer's 1250 career win and he will look to record number 1251 against Lorenzo Sonego whom he plays next.