Roger Federer into 9th Wimbledon final in straight sets!

Roger Federer set a Wimbledon final clash with Novak Djokovic after dismissing Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4 6-4 in Friday’s semi-finals at the All England Club.

The 32-year-old Swiss is through to his ninth final at The Championships and is bidding to win an unprecedented eighth title. Victory would mark his 18th Grand Slam championship win and first since beating Andy Murray on Centre Court two years ago.

“I’m extremely happy to be in another final,” Federer told BBC television as he walked off court after beating first-time semi-finalist Raonic in one hour and 41 minutes. “It would mean a lot [to win Wimbledon again]. I feel unbelievably proud every time I walk the grounds here. I know I don’t have 10 [years] left. I’ll try to enjoy it. The first one in 2003 was a dream come true; it’s surreal that I’ve been so successful here.”


Federer is through to the final for the loss of just one set, overcoming Stan Wawrinka in four sets in the quarter-finals. The Basel native has dropped serve just once in reaching the final and only faced one break point against Raonic.

“[It took] big concentration [today],” said Federer. “I had to really focus every point. I had to be very careful on my service games. I knew there would only be a few chances on return. I was unbelievably effective.

“I’ve played some great tennis under pressure [during the tournament]. I didn’t play so well last year and I expect a lot of myself here. In the second week I’ve really played better as the tournament went on. It wasn’t easy today but I got it done and I look forward to a great match with Novak.”

The ‘Big Four’ of Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Rafael Nadal have accounted for 35 of the past 37 majors, and that trend is set to continue when Federer and Djokovic square off for the 35th time on Sunday.

Federer will play his 25th Grand Slam final and is the oldest finalist at the All England Club since a 39-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1974. He leads Djokovic 18-16 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, winning their most recent contest on clay in the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in April. Their last Grand Slam meeting came two years ago in the Wimbledon semi-finals, with Federer edging it in four sets.

“We always play good matches against each other,” said Federer. “We’ve played each other a lot the past six months, and it’s gone back and forth a bit. Novak is a great champion; he’s used to these occasions. He’s won here before and knows how to get it done. I hope it's going to be a good match.”

The 23-year-old Raonic had reached his first Grand Slam semi-final after beating Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday. The Canadian is set to rise to a career-high World No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.


atpworldtour.com

This match was a lot easier then I thought it was gonna be. Thought Raonic would put up a lot more of a fight. I guess hype is sometimes just that.

Not that I'm complaining mind you, I am over the moon that Mr. Federer is in another Wimbledon final (especially given the disaster that was last year).

We're talking leaps and bounds here. I was hoping Dimitrov would pull off a miracle and actually beat Djokovic making it that much easier for Federer, but at least he made Djokovic fight for it.


We're either in for another knuckle-biter or a 4 set win for Federer, how's that for a bold prediction?. Go for #8 & #18 Maestro!.

Can it be Sunday already?!. Oh yeah, there's still the women's final on Saturday. Go Genie Bouchard!. Make some history for Canada :).