Federer, Murray heading for semifinal showdown at Wimbeldon
Stan Wawrinka came into the quarterfinals as the only man who hadn’t dropped a set in the first five rounds. Richard Gasquet came in with only one win in his last 16 matches against top-10 opponents. The matchup definitely looked to favor Wawrinka, but it’s No. 21 Gasquet moving on with the tremendous upset over No. 4 Wawrinka, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9.
Gasquet quickly ended Wawrinka’s streak, taking the opening set. Two-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka settled in after that, closing out the next two sets without a hitch. After only taking 62 percent of first serve points in the first set, Wawrinka improved to 84 percent in the second.
He seemed poised to close out the match in four sets, to set up a rematch of last month’s thrilling French Open final against Novak Djokovic, who was winning his match on Centre Court.
But Gasquet wasn’t ready to go home just yet, winning the fourth to set up the decisive fifth set.
The Frenchman held serve to open the fifth set. The set stayed on serve through seven games, as the crowd seemed to back the underdog more with each shot. There is nothing Wimbledon fans seem to love more than an upset (except, of course, seeing a Brit win).
With Wawrinka serving at 3-4 in the fifth, Gasquet capitalized on a tentative volley from his Swiss opponent to earn the all-important break. Wawrinka answered right back, breaking Gasquet to bring the score back to 4-5, then held to make it 5-all. The set went all the way to 10-9 before there was another service break.
Finally, Gasquet closed out the win with a break. He advances to just his second major semifinal, where he’ll face No. 1 Djokovic.
As Wawrinka and Gasquet battled in the fifth, Djokovic advanced to the semifinals with a routine 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic. Djokovic is seeking his third Wimbledon title. This is the Serb’s 20th Grand Slam semifinal appearance in the last 21 Grand Slams. Djokovic knocked Gasquet out of the French Open in a fourth-round, straight-set win last month.
Earlier in the day, Roger Federer claimed the first spot in the men’s semifinals with a routine 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 12 Gilles Simon, setting yet another record in the process.
Federer came into the match without dropping a service game through five rounds. He continued his streak through nearly two sets, long enough to break Wayne Arthurs’ 16-year record of 111 consecutive unbroken service games. Including matches played before Wimbledon, Federer had served 116 games without being broken. Simon ended the streak late in the second set.
Wednesday had been billed as his toughest challenge yet, as the 30-year-old Frenchman had taken Federer, 33, to five sets in each of their two previous Grand Slam meetings. Simon was making his Wimbledon quarterfinals debut.
The match proved easier than anticipated, as Federer advanced in just 94 minutes. He won 80 percent of his first-serve points while only double faulting once. He’s on to the semifinals at the All England Club for the 10th time in his illustrious career. He is 9-0 thus far.
To return to the final, he’ll have to dismantle hometown favorite Andy Murray. The two are fairly evenly matched on paper, with Federer leading the head-to-head with a slight 12-11 advantage – including wins in their last three meetings.
“The road is long getting here. But still I feel like I’m fresh, I’ve got energy left in the tank and hopefully a great match versus Andy,” Federer said after his match.
Murray advanced in straight sets over Vasek Pospisil, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. It was Canadian Pospisil’s first time playing beyond the third-round of a major. He played well, but in the end Murray’s experience was too much to overcome. Murray moves on to his sixth Wimbledon semifinal.
Murray’s older brother, Jamie, also advanced to the semifinals, playing men’s doubles with John Peers of Australia. That makes Andy and Jamie the first brothers to reach the singles and doubles semis at Wimbledon since John and Neale Fraser did so in 1962.
Had Wawrinka won, it would have been the first time in 20 years that the top four men’s seeds advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals. Instead, it’s the sixth time in the past 11 years that three of the top four have advanced.
