Djokovic and Federer Both Rally To Book Spots in Wimbledon Semis

Trailing two sets to one, top-seeded Novak Djokovic rallied to take the final two sets and defeat Marin Cilic 6-1, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2 in over three hours. The Serb rattled off 12 of the final 16 games of the match to escape the upset bid from Cilic and move into the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Djokovic cruised in the first set, but things changed quickly in the second. Cilic was able to pick up a break point in the second set which allowed him to coast to the 6-3 victory and even up the match. Another break in the third set put him up 6-5, but two poor forehands allowed Djokovic to get back in it and force the tiebreak.

Cilic handled the tiebreak after a huge forehand winner put him up 6-4, and after a Djokovic lob sailed long, the set belonged to Cilic. The frame lasted 67 minutes and seemed to shift the momentum in the Croatian’s favor.

However, Djokovic would rally. He stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set before wrapping it up in a little over a half hour. From there, the top seed in the tournament put Cilic in his dust and won the final set 6-2. Despite the comeback victory, Djokovic was not happy with his performance overall.

“I played a very bad game, with a couple of bad errors in the second set and the momentum changed for him to get back into the match,” said Djokovic. “He found his rhythm on serve, but I allowed him to step in. It was frustrating for me.”

Regardless, the Djoker will move into the final four and drew a matchup with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who knocked off defending champion Andy Murray earlier in the day.

“He has been on fire the past six months,” Djokovic said of Dimitrov. “He has won a couple of titles, including on grass at Queens [Aegon Championships]. He is unbeaten on grass this year so he is the player to beat.”

Roger Federer won the all-Swiss battle in his quarterfinal bout with Stan Wawrinka, beating his countryman 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion was on his heels early as Wawrinka fired 10 winners, clowing out the opening frame in 30 minutes. Both players put on a great display of tennis in the second set as neither allowed a break point. Federer would take the set in a tiebreak and never look back.

With Wawrinka seemingly getting fatigued, Federer turned on the after burners and broke serve to take the third set. While Federer was serving for match point in the fourth, the fifth-seeded Wawrinka saved four match points before Federer closed him out.

“It’s tough,” Federer said on playing Wawrinka. “I must say he played a great first two sets. He struggled with his fitness after that. He was hitting the ball too cleanly for me to do anything. I had to wait two and a half sets to get the first break. He’s hard to get by because we know each other’s patterns really well. We both played a high level.”

Today’s match marked the 16th meeting between the two Switzerland natives. Federer’s next opponent will not be as familiar, as he awaits the winner of eighth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic and Australian wild card Nick Kyrgios.