He was playing some really good tennis.
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At the moment of victory there were tears from Murray, and even from his famously steely coach Ivan Lendl, but there was also joy rather than the sheer relief he had felt in 2013.
Federer last won Wimbledon in 2012, the last of his record 17 Grand Slam championships.
Maybe this time Federer ran out of steam, forced to play 10 sets in his last two matches, including a quarterfinal comeback from two sets down against Marin Cilic on Wednesday.
Tomas Berdych’s Wimbledon run might be over, but he believes it has ended to the eventual victor, Andy Murray.
Murray leads Milos Raonic 4-3 on Centre Court.
Raonic packs the fastest serve of the tournament so far, sending down a 144mph (231.7km/h) ace early in the semi-final against Federer.
On the women’s side, it’s no surprise to see top-seeded Serena Williams going for her seventh Wimbledon title Saturday.
Seventeen-year-old Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the boys semifinal on Friday.
The straightforward 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory was in stark contrast to the hard-fought quarter-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and leaves the Scot fresh for Sunday’s showdown with Milos Raonic.
The Canadian has a chance to break and take the fourth, and unloads a backhand passing shot – and with that seals the set, and we need a decider. He had 5 aces to 3 from Raonic, as well as getting the only break point during the fifty-one minute fourth set.
With a 6-3 head-to-head career lead over the 25-year-old Raonic, Murray will be expected to get his Grand Slam collection rolling again, three years after beating Djokovic to become Britain’s first Wimbledon men’s singles champion for 77 years.
Before the fifth set started, Federer had a trainer massage his right thigh. “The rest of the team that’s working with me has helped get me into this position”, said Murray, who is on a five-match winning streak against Raonic.
Roger Federer had been carefully calibrating expectations before Wimbledon began. However, with the rise of Raonic, it’s anybody’s game. Raonic won the first set 6-3 on Centre Court, and Federer took the next two 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Watson and partner Henri Kontinen of Finland beat Robert Farah of Colombia and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Fresh from his strong performance coming from down 2-1 sets to win over Federer, Raonic is seeking to dismantle the No. 2 player in the world.
British actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Hugh Grant both watched on from the Royal Box as the British No 1 won in straight sets under gloomy conditions. When Federer moved to 40-0 in the 12th game, the contest was poised to enter a fourth-set tiebreak. I was down a set and a break at Queens. Indeed, this will be his first against a rival other than Djokovic or Roger Federer.
The Scot is looking for his third Grand Slam title and his second in Wimbledon, in which he won in 2013 against Novak Djokovic.
Nadal, a two-time champion at the All England Club, never made the starting line because of a wrist injury. He will face Milos Raonic and not a “Big Three” Member.
No. 2-seeded Murray will then play No. 10 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Federer, bidding for a record eighth title, has never lost a Wimbledon semifinal.
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Somewhat ironically, Raonic, the cool “tennis mathematic” – as his new coach describes him – will rely on McEnroe, the original tennis superbrat, to outwit the calm and collected Lendl, who’s now in charge of hot-head Murray.
