LONDON, United Kingdom – Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Milos Raonic advanced to Wimbledon semifinals on Wednesday.
Djokovic survived an early scare from twenty-sixth seed Marin Cilic, but won 6-1, 3-6, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-2. He easily won the first set, but Cilic broke Djokovic in the second set and won 83% of his net points. Spectators could tell Cilic was getting into Djokovic’s head and worried another upset was occurring in front of them. But after a few problems with his footing, Djokovic changed his shoes and came back on fire.
“It was a tough five sets,” said Djokovic. “I allowed him back into the match. Maybe it was the shoes but since I changed them I played really well, midway through the fourth.”
He said he is going to keep the shoes when he plays against Grigor Dimitrov, who upset defending champion Andy Murray at Centre Court.
Federer also faced an early scare, but quickly rallied back against fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4. Wawrinka appeared excellent in the first set as he broke Federer and won 100% of his first serve points. But everything changed in the second set and Wawrinka did not look well. It was not his playing, but his face and movement. He really struggled to play in the second set and trainers tended to him before the third set. Unfortunately for Wawrinka, his condition weakened even more and Federer conquered the fourth set. He broke Wawrinka and won 100% of his net points, but something was still off with Wawrinka.
Wawrinka finally left the court before the fourth set and he appeared green. His stomach was giving him issues, but he came back to finish the match. In the fourth set, he fought off four match points before Federer snatched the match away.
“I’m very pleased with the match,” said Federer.
The BBC interviewer reminded Federer this is his ninth time in the Wimbledon semifinals, and he won the previous eight. He also won seven titles, only lost to Rafael Nadal in 2008 in five sets. Federer laughed.
“I do not want to get too far ahead of myself!” he said. “I’m really pleased I’m back in the sem-finals after last year when I didn’t even come close and was very deflated leaving here on that note. It’s great to back in the semis and the possibility of a step further is exciting.”
Raonic ended Australian teen Nick Kyrgios’ run of toppling top seeds 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(7). Needless to say, Kyrgios did not give up without a fight, but the first set took a lot out of him and Raonic took advantage of it. He broke Kyrgios, rushed the court, and forced Kyrgios all over the court. Kyrgios found one last breath of air in the fourth set and neither player was broken, but Raonic’s serve was stronger.
Raonic will face off against Federer and he is the second Canadian in the semifinals. Eugenie Bouchard advanced as well, which is her third consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. It is Raonic’s first Grand Slam semifinal.
Photo Credit: The Daily Mail
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