(Adrian Dennis, Pool Photo via AP).
Advertisement
Gasquet took a set off the Serbian when he lost their pre-Wimbledon exhibition match at the Boodles event, but he was unable to repeat the precision he showed in defeating French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Federer through to another final. People maybe expected it to go four or five (sets). A successful challenge by the seven-time Wimbledon champ flipped the momentum, then eventually cracked a forehand victor to convert his sixth set point.
“I was screaming inside”, Federer said later. Swinging the momentum his way? Federer served first, was a tad shaky, and even faced one break point. And that, essentially, was that.
World number one and top-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic made his way into the Wimbledon finals on Friday. The Swiss suffered an agonizing five-set loss on that occasion as Grand Slam title No. 18 continued to elude him.
Federer, the No. 2 seed, won in an hour, 44 minutes, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4.
Gasquet is renowned for his one-handed backhand, one of the best in the game.
Gasquet was brimming with confidence as he conjured up yet another sublime backhand victor down the line, but Djokovic held to edge back in front in a fifth game featuring a thrilling rally won by the defending champion. When he was broken right away to begin the second, any suspense about who would win dissipated.
Djokovic opened the second set by breaking serve in the first game, and that was all he needed, serving out the rest of the set for a commanding two-sets-to love advantage.
“I definitely don’t feel like I played a bad match”, Murray said.
If he can beat Djokovic, Federer will become first man to win eight Wimbledon titles.
Ex- India cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar, current Indian cricket skipper Virat Kohli and ex- Wimbledon champions Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver and Lindsay Davenport were also among the guests.
The two players held serve the rest of the set to force a tiebreaker, but Djokovic won five straight points from 2-2 to take control.
Murray enjoyed passionate home support when he beat Federer at the Olympics in 2012 but the Swiss remains widely popular and the crowd on Centre Court was more split this time around. When Murray put in second serves in the 80s, Federer stepped in and knocked off return winners. “That was the difference”. He hit 20 aces to 12 by Murray.
The first set was of very high quality and of high intensity set with each player having an incredible serving rhythm, particularly Federer.
Federer and Murray each used the word “unbelievable” to describe their terrific exchanges.
“They were getting into it, as well, starting to get pumped up there”, said Murray, whose Wimbledon title in 2013 was the first for a British man in 77 years.
“I give credit to Andy Murray for being able to answer the ‘how awesome is Roger Federer?’ question so quickly”.
The final will take place on Sunday, July 12.
Advertisement
“That doesn’t look like a guy that’s going to turn 34 in a month, does it?” he said later.
