London: Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer hailed his straight-sets semi-final demolition of Andy Murray as one of the best of his career on Friday.
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Federer hasn’t won it since then though, finishing runner up to Novak Djokovic a year ago and with Murray winning in 2013.
The current head-to-head record is 12-11 in Federer’s favour, but the third seeded Murray is in a rich vein of form and the bookies have struggled to separate the two players.
Novak Djokovic will defend his Wimbledon title on Sunday, having disposed of Richard Gasquet in the semifinals. Roger’s extremely popular everywhere he goes, so it might not be as partisan a crowd or atmosphere as some matches that I play here. But while there isn’t the added intrigue of an off-court feud like the Serena Williams-Maria Sharapova rivalry, the Federer/Murray matchup boasts one of the most even records between two such dominant players.
Similarly, Federer has won 58.8% of all points played at Wimbledon – following by Richard Gasquet, who has won 55.2% of all points he’s played. Murray fell behind love-40, but saved a total of five set points as the game went to deuce seven times and included furious corner-to-corner rallies.
“I’m very happy to be in the semis again”. Both Murray and Federer have one win each on grass, but Federer, given his experience, has prevailed over Murray four times in grand slams, as opposed to Murray’s solitary win over the Swissman.
For those heading to Centre Court this Friday, the mouth-watering clash between world No. 2 Roger Federer and crowd favourite Andy Murray is what they’d call a dream semi-final.
Djokovic can also emulate Becker’s feat of retaining the Wimbledon crown this weekend, and hailed the German’s pivotal influence in his backroom staff. “I’m not coming from nowhere”, he said.
“It’s been tough, Andy has been playing very well this season and there was so much expectation on this match”, said Federer, who is the oldest finalist since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1974.
Murray is an 11 to 4 favorite to win Wimbledon in terms of the futures betting, with Federer at 4 to 1 and Gasquet at 28 to 1. I got broken at the end of each set.
Djokovic did not keep them waiting too long, closing out the match with a single break of serve in the third set. The top-ranked Serb beat Richard Gasquet 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 to advance to his fourth final in five years.
If he can beat Djokovic, Federer will become first man to win eight Wimbledon titles.
“I hope I get good support on Friday”. Murray is relying on his aces as he holds on to his serve after a stiff battle. “It’s his court”, said Djokovic, who will seek to join his coach Boris Becker on three Wimbledon titles.
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The Swiss attacked Murray’s serve and when he opened up a match point, he took the opportunity at the first time of asking as a forehand from the home hope drifted wide to give Federer a surprisingly rapid victory.
