With each gorgeous passing shot and fist pump from Andy Murray, the noise and energy at Centre Court surged. Murray was engaged in a critical fight to stay alive in the second set of his match with Roger Federer, and he was producing the daring, line-kissing shots to do it.
The scintillating game, in which Murray trailed, 0-40, at one point, lasted 17 minutes and featured seven deuces and five set points for Federer. With the fans responding to all his exhortations, Murray held serve to win what seemed, at the time, like a match-changing minimarathon. Down a set, he had drawn even at 5-5 in the second.
Then Federer came out and held his serve at love in 92 seconds.
Whatever momentum Murray had produced in the preceding game through sheer will, whatever excitement had built to a peak in the stadium, had flitted out through the open roof. Federer was back in command in yet another brilliant performance on the Centre Court grass.
In the next game, he broke Murray’s serve to take the set and went on to win the Wimbledon semifinal, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4, in a match that was much closer than the straight-sets score line indicated.
“Definitely one of the best matches I’ve played in my career,” Federer, 33, said.
He has played 10 Wimbledon semifinals and won them all. On Sunday, Federer will go for a record eighth Wimbledon title and an 18th Grand Slam championship. He will face No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who defeated Richard Gasquet, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
It will be a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final, which Djokovic won in five sets, and the two top seeds undoubtedly deserve to be there. As well as Federer is playing, Djokovic is on the same plane.
Direct link to watch video Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer
Federer has not won a Grand Slam tournament since he beat Murray at Wimbledon in 2012, and in the intervening three years, he never played quite as exceptionally as he is playing now. His movement across the grass is almost as swift as ever. His groundstrokes are typically precise, his net game may have even improved, and his serve on Friday was almost unreturnable.
Federer served 20 aces and double-faulted only once. He got his first serve in 76 percent of the time and won 84 percent of the points in which he did.
“It’s frustrating, obviously, when you’re out there because I couldn’t get a racket on a lot of the returns,” Murray said.
The last 5 matches of Novak Djokovic
10.07.2015 Novak Djokovic - Richard Gasquet 3:0 W
08.07.2015 Novak Djokovic - Marin Cilic 3:0 W
07.07.2015 Novak Djokovic - Kevin Anderson 3:2 W
06.07.2015 Novak Djokovic - Kevin Anderson 0:0 D
03.07.2015 Novak Djokovic - Bernard Tomic 3:0 W
The last 5 matches of Roger Federer
10.07.2015 Andy Murray - Roger Federer 0:3 W
08.07.2015 Gilles Simon - Roger Federer 0:3 W
06.07.2015 Roberto Bautista-Agut - Roger Federer 0:3 W
04.07.2015 Samuel Groth - Roger Federer 1:3 W
02.07.2015 Sam Querrey - Roger Federer 0:3 W
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Tennis
