Wimbledon 2012 Update: Djokovic to Meet Federer in Semis
Six-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer of Switzerland and last year’s winner Novak Djokovic of Serbia will meet each other in the semifinals on grass for the first time in their 27th head-to-head meeting. Federer is seeking a record-tying seventh Wimbledon title after losing in the quarterfinals the past two years.
"It is interesting that this is our first grass-court match. I’m looking forward to it," said Federer. "I haven’t put too much thought into it, to be quite honest, yet. I’m just happy that I’m around further than I’ve been the last couple years."
A win over Djokovic on Friday, and another in the Wimbledon finals on Sunday, would put Federer back at the top of the game as the number one-ranked player in the world. Djokovic has won four of the last six major titles, and lost to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final last month. Federer is 14-12 against Djokovic overall, but 1-6 since the start of 2011.
In the other semifinals match set for Friday, the fourth-seeded Andy Murray of Great Britain will face the number five seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. This marks Murray’s fourth consecutive appearance in the Wimbledon semis.
"Tennis in the U.K. is not really a sport that necessarily gets followed loads for the rest of the year, but everyone gets into it when Wimbledon comes round because they understand how big a competition it is," Murray said. "The support that I’ve had over the last sort of five, six years here has been great."
Murray came back to defeat Spain’s David Ferrer 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-6(4) in the quarterfinals, while Tsonga was a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 winner over the 27th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. Murray leads Tsonga 5-1 in their FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series, including wins at 2010 Wimbledon and the 2011 AEGON Championships final.
