Roger Federer will meet Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s men’s singles final at Wimbledon after seeing off home favourite Andy Murray in straight sets in the semi-finals.
The seven-time winner hit 56 winners and 11 unforced errors against Murray’s 35 to 17 differentials to claim a 7-5 7-5 6-4 win, through to his 10 Wimbledon final.
The win thus make him the oldest player, 33, to reach The Championship final since Ken Rosewall (39 years 246 days) in 1974. He will also be playing his 26th championship match and aiming at a record eighth title when he lock horns with Djokovic, who earlier in the day saw off Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The Swiss is now 13-11 against Murray.
Many had envisaged a long tussle between the 17-time major winners and the British No. 1 who was looking to reach just his third final at the All England Club, but it turned out a one-man affair in front or a partisan crowd at Centre Court.
“Andy’s been playing very well for the season,” Federer told the BBC following the match. “There is so much expectation riding on the match. I’m unbelievably happy. I played so well in the biggest occasion today.
“I’ve been serving very well for the entire tournament. I wasn’t broken against one of the best returners. I kept the pressure up and went for my shots. I mixed it up like I usually do and kept pushing forward and staying focused. It all worked out really well.”
The first set went with serves until the 12th game, when Federer blasted a backhand winner to present himself with an opportunity to serve out the set at 15-40, which he did after Murray had saved the first set point.
An entertaining second set ensued, in which Federer refused to concede ascendancy; firing 18 winners and claiming an impressive 19-19 first serve points and 10-13 on the net to move two-set up after one hour and 34 minutes.
Both players took their turns on serves until the 10th game when the second seed again chalked off Murray’s serve. He wasted no time to close out the match on his first match point after two hours and seven minutes.
