Roger Federer's serve was broken at
Wimbledon for the first time at this year's tournament, but it was simply a
minor hiccup for the seven-time champion.
Second seed Federer toyed with Gilles Simon
for much of Wednesday's rain-affected quarterfinal and progressed 6-3 7-5 6-2
to set up a showdown in the last four with Andy Murray, who had a similarly
comfortable afternoon in southwest London against Vasek Pospisil.
The Scot advanced 6-4 7-5 6-4 on Center
Court over the Canadian, a loser to one of the Murray brothers for the second
time in three days.
Having been deprived of a blockbuster Murray-Rafael Nadal quarterfinal after
Spain's 14-time grand slam winner fell to Dustin Brown in the second round,
tennis fans can now look forward to an intriguing clash between two of the
men's game's "Big Four."
Federer leads Murray by the slimmest of
margins in their often fascinating duels, 12-11, but the Swiss has won three in
a row and inflicted a devastating 6-0 6-1 defeat on the world No. 3 when they
last met at 2014's season-ending championships about 15 miles northeast of
Wimbledon.
"He left everything out there,
making the World Tour Finals," Federer told reporters Wednesday. "I
think when I played him, he was a bit cooked, to be honest.
"I played a great match, but it was
not the Andy that usually comes up and shows up."
Murray might have home-court advantage,
but it won't be by much against the universally adored Federer.
Murray, however, was a different player
at the end of 2014. The World Tour Finals marked the end of a turbulent,
inconsistent campaign following back surgery at the conclusion of 2013.
Having seemingly fully recovered from
the injury, and now settled in his coaching setup, Murray is adamant that he's
playing better than even in the summer of 2013 when he won Wimbledon to end
Britain's 77-year men's singles drought.
Federer found himself in the unfamiliar
confines of Court One in a Wimbledon quarterfinal, although that didn't stop
Rod Laver -- the last man to achieve the calendar-year grand slam in 1969 --
from taking a courtside seat. David Beckham and the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, William and Kate, rooted for Murray.
In Federer's box, meanwhile, was actor
and occasional Wimbledon visitor Bradley Cooper.
With his dazzling shotmaking and
variety, Federer's game is all Hollywood.
The cheeky Simon, whose counter-punching
style mirrors Murray's, was largely defenseless in their first encounter on
grass. Federer struck 11 aces and 36 winners overall as he reached a 10th
semifinal at Wimbledon to move into sole possession of second among the men in
the Open Era behind Jimmy Connors' 11.
"From the first point of the match
he served perfect," Simon, appearing in his first grand slam quarterfinal
in six years, told reporters. "He never gave me any occasion.
"It was hard to have a grip on
him."
Failing to serve out the second set at
5-4 wasn't an issue for Federer -- who had won 116 consecutive service games,
dating back to the first round of the German grass-court tournament where he
triumphed last month.
The 33-year-old broke straight back for
6-5, won the first point and closed out the set following the second of two
rain delays.
Four of his five matches at Wimbledon
this year have wrapped up in 95 minutes or less, so fatigue certainly won't be
a problem against the younger Murray.
It was at this stage in 2014 that Murray
exited Wimbledon in an uncharacteristically flat outing against Grigor
Dimitrov.
He was the heavy favorite against the
56th-ranked Pospisil, who was making his debut in a grand slam quarterfinal,
and put in an efficient display to avoid being upset again.
Just as in Federer's match, the second
set proved key. Hanging in there, Pospisil dropped serve at 5-5 when Murray hit
a typical -- for him -- passing shot.
Instead of attempting to blast an
outright winner, he kept his cross-court backhand low to prompt an error from
Pospisil.
Even reading notes during changeovers
couldn't revive Pospisil, who lost to Jamie Murray in doubles Monday -- when he
played 10 sets of tennis in singles and doubles.
In Wednesday's later quarterfinals,
titleholder Novak Djokovic -- Murray's conqueror in Melbourne and Paris --
played U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, and French Open winner Stan Wawrinka
faced 21st seed Richard Gasquet.
No comments:
Post a Comment