FEDERER, MURRAY SET UP SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AT WIMBLEDON 2015 BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 8th July 2015

FEDERER, MURRAY SET UP SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AT WIMBLEDON 2015 BY RICKY DIMON

Andy Murray of Britain in action against Vasek Pospisil of Canada during their quarter final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2015. EPA/SEAN DEMPSEY |

The Wimbledon semifinal between Roger Federer and Andy Murray that has been highly anticipated ever since the draw came out has now become a reality. Federer and Murray won their respective quarterfinal matches on Wednesday to set up Friday’s blockbuster showdown.

Federer continued his rapid trek through the fortnight by beating Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 34 minutes. His streak of more than 100 service games without getting broken got snapped in the second set, but it hardly mattered.

The 33-year-old Swiss has completed five matches in a total of seven hours and 46 minutes. He is on pace to play a full seven-match tournament–from round one through the final–in 10 hours and 52 minutes, less than the length of the John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut marathon in 2010.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Gilles Simon of France in their quarter final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

“I’m very happy to be in the semis again,” said Federer. “The road is long getting here. But still I feel like I’m fresh and I’ve got energy left in the tank for hopefully a great match with Andy and then we’ll see. But I’m looking forward to it.”

“I think Roger played a great match, especially on the serve,” Simon commented. “I had a lot of pressure because of that. From the first point in the match, he served perfect. He never gave me any occasion. The only break I did was really good. I just played a perfect game to break him.”

Surprising quarterfinalist Vasek Pospisil never could solve the Murray serve in a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 decision. Pospisil’s dream run at the All-England Club came to an end after two hours and 11 minutes of play.

Murray, the 2013 champion, committed a mere 13 unforced errors. It was a clean match by both men, as Pospisil finished with just 23 errors.

“I needed to [step up] because at times [he] was serving really well, [which] made it very difficult for me,” Murray explained. “Then I just managed to–at a few key moments–come up with some good shots. (The) third set was tricky, as well, because I had a bunch of break points. When you don’t take them, obviously you start to think about that a little bit. Overall, it was a good match.”

Friday’s other semifinal will pit Novak Djokovic against Richard Gasquet. Djokovic coasted past Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 while Gasquet outlasted Stan Wawrinka 11-9 in the fifth set.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: All England Tennis Club, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis News, Wimbledon 2015

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10sBalls_com says:

July 8, 2015 at 6:54 pm

-@rogerfederer, @andy_murray SET UP SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AT @Wimbledon 2015 BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/oUEnU4Z16Q #Federer #Murray #Wimbledon
Dimonator says:

July 8, 2015 at 7:23 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@rogerfederer, @andy_murray SET UP SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AT @Wimbledon 2015 BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/oUEnU4Z16Q #Federer …