Federer has Djoker's number

Tennis Wimbledon: Swiss ace ousts defending champion to keep his date with Sampras record

Six-time champion Roger Federer reached a record eighth Wimbledon final here on Friday when he defeated world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

In the pair’s 27th meeting but first on grass, Federer booked his place in his 24th Grand Slam final where he will face either Andy Murray or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Victory on Sunday will take the 30-year-old level with Pete Sampras’ record of seven Wimbledon titles, allow him to reclaim the world number one ranking and clinch a 17th career Grand Slam crown.

Djokovic, who was bidding to reach a fifth successive Grand Slam final, had defeated Federer six times in their last seven meetings. But Federer, playing in a record 23rd successive major semifinal, was not to be denied as he buried the heartache of having been knocked out in the quarterfinals in the last two years.

He also took his record of semifinal victories to eight out of eight at the All England Club.
“I’m ecstatic, I’m so happy,” Federer said immediately after walking off court to huge applause. “I played a great match today and it's been a tough tournament for me really.
But I was able to play some fantastic tennis today and I thought Novak played good too.

“The first two sets went really quickly and then the third set was really key and I managed to step it up and maybe get a bit lucky because he also had break points near the end of the third. It was a lot of fun out there today.”

Looking ahead to a final Murray or Tsonga, who he lost to in the quarterfinals last year, the 30-year-old said: “I lost to Jo here last year and Andy’s beaten me more than I’ve beaten him I think. I have a tough task ahead of me.”

With Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar and pop singer Kylie Minogue watching from the Royal Box, Federer provided the early entertainment by easing to the first set in just 24 minutes.

The Swiss earned the break point he needed in the sixth game when Djokovic, who fell on the surface made slippery by the closed roof above, could only net a running backhand.

A shout from the crowd then caused Djokovic to check his service motion and Federer pounced with a low return which the Serb could only dump into the net.

Federer served up two successive aces in the ninth game to lay the foundation for wrapping up the opening set.

Djokovic, who came back from two sets to love down to beat Federer in the semifinals of the US Open last year, hit back in the second set, breaking with a razor-sharp backhand down the line for a 2-0 lead.

The match was level when the champion fired his fifth ace of the contest to take the second set. A double fault by Djokovic then gave Federer break point in the sixth game of the third which the Serb saved after a brutal, 23-shot rally.

Another fierce exchange, this time 26 shots, gave Federer a second break point but Djokovic’s iron defence kept him level at 3-3.

However, Federer carved out two set points in the 10th game when Djokovic missed an easy overhead. The champion saved the first but Federer converted the second with a leaping smash into an open court.

Federer was suddenly and comfortably on top, capitalising on a loose Djokovic service game to break for a 2-0 lead in the fourth set.

Djokovic was under siege and fought off three break points to hang on at 4-2 down. But Federer claimed victory in the ninth game on his first match point when Djokovic netted a service return.

Paes-Vesnina advance

Veteran Leander Paes was the lone Indian left in fray at the Wimbledon as he reached the mixed doubles quarterfinals with Elena Vesnina after Rohan Bopanna and Jie Zheng crashed to a straight-set defeat in the last-eight stage of the same event.
Fourth seeds Paes and Russia’s Vesnina staved off a stiff challenge from the Belarussian combination of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka to win 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 and enter the quarterfinals.

They will now be up against the Australian-Russian pair of Paul Hanley and Alla Kudryavtseva in the quarterfinals.
However, it was curtains for 10th seeds Bopanna and Zheng, who lost 2-6, 5-7 to second-seeded Americans Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond in just 55 minutes.