ROGER FEDERER AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO FACE OFF IN THE WIMBLEDON MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

Written by: Staff on 4th July 2014

ROGER FEDERER AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO FACE OFF IN THE WIMBLEDON MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

epaselect epa04298809 Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Milos Raonic of Canada during their semi-final match of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 04 July 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Young guns fail to fire against the old guard in the Men’s Semi-finals @Wimbledon by staff

Forget “How The West Was Won” – this was how SW19 was won by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic both stopped two rising stars of the ATP in their tracks on Saturday.

In the first semi-final, Grigor Dimitrov was looking to pull off another upset after guiding defending champion Andy Murray out of the tournament in the quarter-final. However Djokovic was in no mood to indulge youthful impudence, edging the first set.

What has been impressive about Dimitrov this year is that he concentrates on executing his game and he stuck with it, rewarded with a break and maintaining pressure on the World No. 2. He took the second set comfortably. That was in-between treating the baseline like his personal skating rink at times.

Things took a thrilling turn as the pair beat themselves up to a third set tie-break, and Djokovic found himself in the driving seat nonce more going up two sets to one. But it was the fourth set that provided the rollercoaster with Djokovic having to fight back to prevent a deciding set, closing out a 6-4 3-6 7-6(2) 7-6(7).

Djokovic was quick to praise the Bulgarian, who surely will be a threat come the hard-court season and the final Slam of the year, the US Open.

“In the semis of Wimbledon playing a future star, he deserves respect, it was a tough match overall,” said Djokovic, who clung on to save three set points in the fourth set tie-break when he trailed 3-6. “The fourth set could have gone either way. I started well, was up a set and a break, points for double break. But like I did against Cilic [in the quarter-finals], I allowed him to get back in the match. Overall I’m really glad to reach another Wimbledon final.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates his victory over Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in their semi final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 04 July 2014. EPA/TATYANA ZENKOVICH

“Dimitrov has quality shots, especially his running forehand, and great touch. He plays equally well when he’s aggressive and when he’s defensive. That’s part of his game that he has improved immensely in the past six to eight months. It was a good win for me. I’m really glad to be part of another entertaining match. Now I’m looking forward to the championship match.”

After the match, Dimitrov said, “Of course I’m frustrated. I came out on the court to win. I think I had a pretty slow start, but at some point I think I got my act together and I was really playing good tennis. You never know what would have happened if I had taken that fourth set. I think at the same time I had my momentum. It’s just he came out on top today, so all the credit to him.”

In the second semi-final, it was nothing short of clinical by Roger Federer as he dashed the high hopes of Milos Raonic to join compatriot Eugenie Bouchard in the finals weekend, woth a straight sets victory 6-4 6-4 6-4.

After the match, Federer said: “It’s going really well. My game’s back where I hoped it would be, you know, from one year ago. Things were difficult all of last year, most of the year, so I’m happy I worked hard off the court, you know, to get myself back into shape and back into contention for tournaments.

“This year’s been very solid. I’ve reached a lot of semis and finals. I also got two titles already. So I think that really gave me confidence to believe that I could go a step further.”

Federer has lost just one set, when he faced compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-final and faced just 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.”

With a head to head lead of 18-16, he knows the final is going to be a different matter against Djokovic who has lost in his last three Slam finals and will want to turn that stat around.

“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 Men’s final will be played on Sunday at 2pm

Topics: Atp, Federer, July 4th, Novak, Sw19, Tennis, Tennis News, Wimbledon 2014

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July 4, 2014 at 4:51 pm

ROGER FEDERER AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO FACE OFF IN THE WIMBLEDON MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS – http://t.co/5dpavTFoR1 @rogerfederer @DjokerNole