Roger Federer moved into a 12th Wimbledon semi-final and within touching distance of a record eighth title Wednesday as Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic crashed out on a dramatic day at the All England Club.
Roger Federer maintained his bid for a record eighth Wimbledon title with a 6-4 6-2 7-6 (7-4) win against Milos Raonic to become the second oldest Wimbledon semi-finalist of the Open era
Federer walked out on Centre Court after Murray’s shock defeat to Sam Querrey and then saw it announced on screen that Djokovic had retired injured from his match against Tomas Berdych
It means that Roger Federer will face Berdych in Friday’s semi-finals while Querrey will tackle Marin Cilic after the former US Open champion put out Gilles Muller, the conqueror of Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.
Veteran Federer only looked in danger of being broken once, saving four break points in the eighth game of the third set as he reached his 42nd Grand Slam semi-final – extending his own record – in a dominant display.
He hit 11 aces and 46 winners, losing just 19 points on his serve as sixth seed Raonic struggled to make any impact at all until the third set.
Roger Federer, 35, and playing in his 100th match at the All England Club on Wednesday, is the second oldest man to reach the semi-finals after Ken Rosewall, who finished runner-up in 1974 at the age of 39.
“100 matches, I can’t believe it, that’s a lot,” said Federer, who will succeed Rosewall as the oldest ever champion should he take the title and a 19th Grand Slam crown on Sunday
He has reached 10 finals to date, winning the most recent of his seven Wimbledon titles against Murray in 2012.
It is amazing that Roger Federer is playing at that level at the age of 35. Everybody thought that last year was the last chance for him. He was however knocked out by Raonic in the semi-final then he had a knee injury and took six months off.
Fast forward to 2017 and he is the dominant player, not only at Wimbledon but throughout the year. It is remarkable, I don’t know how he does it.