Roger Federer was able to shift the momentum of a great rivalry
with Novak Djokovic back his own way with a stirring and surprising
6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory in the semifinals at Wimbledon on Friday.
Perhaps the surface and the setting matter in men's tennis, after
all.
Roger Federer had lost six of seven matches to Novak Djokovic,
most recently last month in a dispiriting, straight-set affair in
the French Open semifinals.
But that was on red clay during a soggy second week in Paris when
it was even tougher than usual to breach Djokovic's formidable
defenses.
Wimbledon was rainy, too, on Friday. But Centre Court now has a
retractable roof and so Federer, with his suspect back and grand
plans, was able to stay safe and dry on his favorite tennis court.
He was also able to shift the momentum of a great rivalry back his
own way with a stirring and surprising 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory in
the semifinals.
"Obviously I'm ecstatic; I'm so happy," Federer said. "I played a
great match today."
It was the 27th match between Federer and Djokovic but their
first on grass.
"I think overall the surface made the match play differently and
potentially in my favor," said Federer, who holds a 15-12 overall
edge in the matchup.
At age 30, Federer is now just one victory away from tying
William Renshaw and Pete Sampras with a seventh Wimbledon singles
title. He is also just one victory away from reclaiming the No. 1
ranking. To cross those thresholds, he will have to defeat the
winner of Friday's second semifinal between Andy Murray of Britain
and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. Neither Murray nor Tsonga has won
a Grand Slam singles title and neither has been in a Wimbledon
singles final.
While Federer and Djokovic, the defending champion, played
indoors on Friday, Murray and Tsonga were set to begin their match
outdoors after a break in the foul weather at Wimbledon.
Djokovic said he did not believe that playing indoors had given
either player an advantage. "We both know what it's like to play
under the roof under these conditions," he said. "And I thought the
beginning of the match, it was a little bit slippery in the back of
the court. After that it was good conditions to play on."
But playing indoors certainly seemed to help Federer on his
serve. Djokovic, arguably the world's best returner, was able to
break him just once. That came in the second set when Djokovic
appeared to have taken control of the match after a quick start from
Federer.
At that stage, Djokovic was winning a clear majority of the
baseline rallies, holding serve effectively and making Federer lunge
and scrape for volleys when he did manage to get to net.
But Federer was able turn the match in the third set despite
failing to capitalize on opportunities on Djokovic's serve in the
6th game. But with Djokovic serving at 4-5, the Serb retreated to
hit an overhead and missed it long to give Federer two set points at
15-40. Djokovic saved the first but could not save the second as
Federer attacked and hit a lunging overhead of his own for a winner.
Sitting in his chair, Djokovic appeared drawn and weary,
breathing hard, his lips parted. "Last five or six days I haven't
been feeling that great, but I don't want to talk about it right
now," he said later.
