Federer stages epic fightback to book Raonic clash

by Steven GRIFFITHS

Roger Federer staged a sensational Wimbledon escape act on Wednesday as the seven-time champion saved three match points and came from two sets down to clinch a semi-final clash with Milos Raonic.

Federer fought back from the brink in a Centre Court thriller as the world number three defeated Croatian ninth seed Marin Cilic 6-7 (4/7), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11/9), 6-3 to reach a record-equalling 11th semi-final at the All England Club.

The 34-year-old also claimed a new record for Grand Slam match wins of 307 as he made a 40th semi-final at the majors.

Federer’s dramatic triumph was his 84th win at Wimbledon — taking him level with Jimmy Connors — and gave him a semi-final against Canadian sixth seed Raonic as he continues his pursuit of an 18th Grand Slam title and a record eighth All England Club crown.

“Marin is such a wonderful player and I knew I was in so much trouble in the third set and in the fourth,” said Federer.

“I just tried to stay in the match and hoped for his level to drop and get a bit lucky. That happened and obviously the breaker was crazy.

“My legs and back were there and serving was key, plus mentally this will give me a hell of a boost.”

Raonic enjoyed far more serene progress to his second Wimbledon semi-final as he ended Sam Querrey’s surprise run to the last eight with a 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory on Court One.

The 25-year-old will hope it is third time lucky after losing his previous two Grand Slam semi-finals.

– Blitzed –

Now coached by former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, Raonic blitzed American 28th seed Querrey, who had stunned defending champion Novak Djokovic in the third round.

He hit 58 winners and served 13 aces and finally looks capable of fulfilling the potential that saw his ear-marked as a future star several years ago.

“There were some momentum shifts there. I’m glad I was able to get back on the right path after he won the third,” Raonic said.

“I was able to get things back on my terms. It’s a well deserved chance to be in the semi-finals.

“It’s exciting, but also humbling because you have to get the win. I hope to do better than last time.”

Federer has won nine of their 11 meetings, including in the last four at Wimbledon two years ago, but Raonic triumphed in their last encounter in Brisbane earlier this year.

It was Federer’s latest Wimbledon theatrics that had the All England Club abuzz as he came from two sets down to win for the 10th time in his glittering career.

Federer, who saved the three match points in the fourth set, fired 27 aces and 67 winners to avenge his semi-final loss to ninth seed Cilic in the semi-finals of the 2014 US Open.

In the process he became the oldest Wimbledon semi-finalist since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1974.

Later on Wednesday, 2013 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray bids for his seventh All England Club semi-final when he faces French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

World number two Murray, beaten in the Australian and French Open finals this year, is looking to win his third major title and first since becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon for 77 years.

In the other remaining quarter-final 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych takes on French 32nd seed Lucas Pouille.

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Berdych barrage seals Wimbledon semi-final berth

Tomas Berdych cruised into the Wimbledon semi-finals as the Czech 10th seed crushed France’s Lucas Pouille 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday.

Berdych is one win away from reaching his second Grand Slam final six years after losing to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon title match.

The 30-year-old, who blasted Pouille off Court One with 35 winners and 10 aces, will play former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray or French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Friday’s semi-finals.

Berdych, the world number nine, is the third Czech man to reach multiple Wimbledon semi-finals after Ivan Lendl and Jan Kodes.

He has now made it to six Grand Slam semi-finals, losing in four of his previous five appearances.

“On paper it looks pretty easy, but really I had to work hard for that,” Berdych said.

“I had to find my rhythm and when I did in the first set tie-break I felt much better. After that it was more straightforward.

“It’s a great feeling. I hoped one day I would have the chance to use the experience from my Wimbledon final and I’m going to go for it again.”

Berdych was playing in his 15th Grand Slam quarter-final, while Pouille had reached the last eight of a major for the first time and the gulf in experience and class quickly became apparent.

Pouille started last year as the world number 133 and arrived at Wimbledon never having won a tour-level match on grass or made it past the second round of a Grand Slam.

Having seen off young guns Alexander Zverev and Jiri Vesely in the previous two rounds to reach his third successive Grand Slam quarter-final, Berdych was in fine form and he had no trouble maintaining that momentum.

After an early exchange of breaks, Pouille called for a treatment on a finger on his right hand at 3-4 in the first set.

The 22-year-old held on to force a tie-break, but Berdych played the big points flawlessly to take a lead that quickly became two sets to love as he surged through the second.

An early break in the third set was all the incentive Berdych needed to seal his drama-free progress to the last four.

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Murray survives five-set thriller to reach semi-finals

by Dave JAMES

Andy Murray survived a five-set rollercoaster to defeat battling Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (12/10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 and reach his seventh Wimbledon semi-final Wednesday.

Second seed Murray, the 2013 champion at the All England Club, goes on to face Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych on Friday in what will be his 20th semi-final at the majors.

It was 29-year-old Murray’s 13th win in 15 match-ups with 12th seeded Tsonga and his 100th career grass court win.

But like Roger Federer, who came back from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic earlier in the day on Centre Court, Murray did it the hard way.

Having looked in cruise control after two sets, he lost his way against the big-serving Tsonga, who was chasing a third appearance in the semi-finals.

Murray rallied impressively in the decider, screaming out to his box ‘there’s no way I’m losing this match’ before making good on his rallying call.

“It was a tough match. Tsonga is one of the best grass-court players in the world and he came up with some great shots at big moments,” Murray said.

“I just tried to use all my energy at the start of the fifth set to get myself pumped up and thankfully I got the early break and managed to hang onto it.”

“In any of the Slams when you get to the final stages you want to play your best tennis and win.

“At the beginning you try to work your way through and play good tennis but now you are trying to get through matches and play as well as possible and I am happy to get into the semis.”

Murray’s first problem of the quarter-final was to get grit out of his right eye.

It wasn’t too much of a distraction as he broke for 3-2 before Tsonga returned the favour for 4-4.

Both men wasted three set points apiece in the ensuing tie-break before Murray pocketed it, just about fair reward for his high-speed scrambling.

The second set went by in a flash with Murray easing through in 26 minutes, a whole 50 minutes quicker than the marathon opener.

Tsonga, 31, looked down and out but suddenly called on a new source of energy to secure the third set courtesy of a break in the seventh game.

Murray ranted with himself and umpire Fergus Murphy as he went completely off the boil and Tsonga levelled an increasingly tense quarter-final.

But buoyed by his own passionate war cry, Murray raced to a 5-0 lead in the decider before sealing victory with a 15th ace after four hours of breathless ups and downs.

“The the finish line was far tonight,” said Tsonga.

“I came back strong in the third and fourth, but I didn’t play well in the fifth. Andy was a little better than me on this last set.”

Murray has an 8-6 record against Berdych who made the 2010 final at Wimbledon.

But they have never played on grass.

“It will be a very tough match (against Berdych). He has been to the final here, beaten Djokovic and Federer at Wimbledon and is very very good,” said Murray.

“He has won some tough matches here, he’s played a lot of tennis and I will need to play well.”

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Berdych blasts Wimbledon duelling in the dusk

by Robin MILLARD

Tomas Berdych fired a verbal volley at Wimbledon after being forced to play on into the twilight gloom then return Tuesday to book his place in the quarter-finals.

The Czech 10th seed was locked at 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (9/11) with compatriot Jiri Vesely when their fourth round tie on Court Three was finally suspended on Monday.

Play finished a few minutes after the 9:19pm sunset in London and conditions were gloomy even before going into the lengthy tie-break. All other matches had been called off for the evening.

The pair returned for the final set on Tuesday, which 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Berdych won 6-3, claiming victory on his eighth match point.

“I can’t really see. That’s the fact. I was just asking to stop. When I ask, I’ve been told, ‘It’s too late, you have to finish that’,” he said of the fourth set tie break.

“The referee tells you that the Hawk-Eye is not in operation anymore. I don’t know why actually we have to play in those situations when a very accurate machine is not able to operate. I don’t think the human eye can see better than that. That’s another fact.

“I experienced this for a third time in a row. So I’m actually getting used to it.”

Berdych asked if the match could be moved under the lights of the Centre Court roof, as has happened before with matches suspended due to darkness. Play can continue on Centre Court until 11:00pm.

But the frustrated Berdych said he had been literally left in the dark.

“I was asking for it. Especially when I’ve been playing for last couple of days consecutively. I just felt like there would be a chance to finish. But there was not really a clear answer why not,” he said.

– Player power call –

Two years ago, Berdych was involved in the latest-ever finish on Wimbledon’s outside courts, when he lost to Marin Cilic at 9:38pm on June 27, 2014 — a full 16 minutes after sunset.

Berdych called for more player power in deciding whether to carry on in fading light.

“We should have definitely some word in that because we are the ones who are on the court. We are the ones that are performing,” he said.

“The decisions are made by people who are sitting at the chair. That’s a bit unfair in this sense.”

However, “when you feel that you can’t really change any decision, it’s really pointless to try”.

Berdych next faces France’s 22-year-old Lucas Pouille, the 32nd seed, in Wednesday’s second match on Court One.

It is only the second time the 30-year-old has reached the last eight since his run to the final six years ago.

“I practiced with him one day before the tournament started. That’s the only time we’ve spent on the court together.

“There are plenty of things to see about his game. That’s what I’m going to do and prepare with my team,” said the Czech number one.

“Hopefully everything goes well, I can make the match done — and finally have a day off.”

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Murray downs Kyrgios for 50th Wimbledon win

by Dave JAMES

Second seed Andy Murray brushed aside Australia’s Nick Kyrgios to register his 50th Wimbledon match win on Monday and reach his ninth straight quarter-final at the event.

Murray, the 2013 champion, eased to a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win and will face French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the semi-finals.

Murray, who will be playing in his ninth successive Wimbledon quarter-final, leads Tsonga 12-2 in previous meetings.

Tsonga, the French 12th seed, has made the semi-finals in 2011 and 2012.

He needed just 24 minutes to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time after compatriot Richard Gasquet quit their fourth round match with a back injury.

“Tsonga who is a top grass court player and I’ll need to play very well to win that one,” said Murray, who is on a 26-match winning streak against French players.

“You can learn from the matches that you’ve played against him, see the things that worked well and try to execute that when you play him the next time.”

Murray shrugged off growing expectations that he can win a third major after the shock defeat of top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the third round.

“Every year I play here it’s the same,” said the 29-year-old.

“It’s not any different this year than it’s been any of the other years I’ve been here.

“I try my best to win my matches, go as deep as possible. I’ve been playing well so far in this event but the matches as you progress get tougher.”

Monday’s eagerly-awaited Centre Court clash against the fiery Australian Kyrgios turned into a disappointing affair.

Kyrgios, the 15th seed who defeated Rafael Nadal at the tournament in 2014, didn’t force a break point on the Murray serve as he slipped to his fifth loss in five meetings against the world number two.

He did manage to save two match points in the ninth game of the third set but was powerless to prevent Murray taking victory with an eighth ace of the contest.

“The first set was very tight. I managed to get the break at 6-5 but it was very tight up to that point,” explained Murray.

“The second set was obviously more comfortable. Nick lost his focus a bit in the middle part of that set.

“But then in the third set, again he served a high percentage but when I was able to get the ball back in play, I was able to dictate a lot of the rallies and I managed to get an early break.”

Murray has yet to drop a set at this year’s Wimbledon.

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Rib agony forces Nishikori out of Wimbledon

by Robin MILLARD

Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori pulled out of Wimbledon in agony on Monday mid-way through his last 16 match against Marin Cilic, overcome by the pain from his rib injury.

Nishikori looked completely out of sorts on Court Two and consulted the trainer and doctor before finally throwing in the towel at 6-1, 5-1 down in the fourth round contest.

The rib problem also forced him out of the Halle grass-court warm-up tournament ahead of Wimbledon.

“It’s the same injury that I had in the first match in Halle. It’s not been recovering well these two weeks,” Nishikori told reporters.

“After the third round, it got worse. I was hoping to get better, but it was too much pain. So I couldn’t really compete.

“I was thinking about it in the second set,” he said of his withdrawal.

“Even before the match, I knew it was not going to be easy for me to play 100 percent. Also Marin was playing great on the court. Every point I played, it got worse. I didn’t want to, but I guess I had to retire.”

Croatian ninth seed Cilic now faces seven-time champion Roger Federer in Wednesday’s quarter-finals.

– 5-0 down in 10 mins –

The struggling Nishikori found himself 5-0 down within 10 minutes, having won just two points. He managed just two winners in the 16-minute set.

In the breaks of play, 26-year-old Nishikori looked forlorn, with his head down, staring at the ground.

He had his head in his hands after serving a double fault to go 4-1 down in the second set, after which his coaching staff — including former French Open champion Michael Chang — pleaded with him to call it quits.

Nishikori called for the trainer and the doctor and was given some pills.

“I knew it was not going to get better. I asked him to get some tape or whatever to get better. But they said no. I knew it was going to be tough,” Japan’s greatest-ever male tennis star said.

After one more game he shook hands with his opponent.

Nishikori also withdrew from last year’s Wimbledon in the second round with a left calf injury.

Despite the second withdrawal, Nishikori said he was pleased with how Wimbledon had gone for him, having beaten Sam Groth, Julien Benneteau and Andrey Kuznetsov.

“It was actually a great, great tournament for me. With the pain, I fought through these three rounds. It wasn’t easy to mentally stay tough every match.”

– Toronto target –

He is targeting the Toronto Masters, which starts on July 25, before the Olympics.

“It was a good lesson for me. I’ve got to recover well. All the big tournaments are coming up in the summer. Hopefully I can recover well and train hard again and get ready for Toronto.

“I’ve got to see how long it’s going to take. But I think I have enough time to recover.

“Every time I get injured I learn a lot of things. But actually this year has been pretty good, physically. The only injury I got is Halle and here.”

He was bidding to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time in seven attempts — the only one of the four majors where he has yet to make the last eight.

Nishikori was also hoping to become only the second Japanese man to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals, after Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995.

He was the last Asian player left in the tournament after compatriot Misaki Doi was beaten in the women’s last 16 by Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the preceding match on the 4,000-seater Court Two show court.

Cilic, who beat Nishikori in the 2014 US Open final, has now reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals three times in a row.

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Federer wary of Ivanisevic factor in Cilic clash

by Dave JAMES

Roger Federer admits 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic will prove a formidable opponent in Wednesday’s quarter-finals even though the colourful Croatian retired 12 years ago.

Ivanisevic masterminded compatriot Marin Cilic’s US Open title triumph in 2014, a victory which also saw him blast Federer off the court in the semi-finals.

That stunning triumph was Cilic’s only Slam title and his 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Federer remains his only one against the Swiss star in six meetings.

“I love Goran,” said Federer.

Ivanisevic has been in Cilic’s corner as coach since 2013.

In that time, the 27-year-old has made three straight Wimbledon quarter-finals as well as the semi-finals at last year’s US Open.

“Goran’s done a wonderful job with Marin. I think he’s a very easy guy to work with. But he got him to the next level,” added Federer.

“I think that’s a credit to Goran and Marin listening, believing in himself that he could play this big.

“I don’t know if he himself believed he could actually win a Grand Slam. A lot of credit to himself, but also Goran for getting him there.”

Federer is still bruised by that US Open defeat, recalling how it felt to see his hopes of a sixth title at the tournament blasted away.

On Wednesday, the 34-year-old is prepared to face down another barrage from a man who has so far hit 76 aces at this year’s Wimbledon and been broken just three times.

“He blew me off the court at the US Open. I know what I’m getting into,” said seven-time Wimbledon champion Federer who will be playing in a record-equalling 14th quarter-final at the event.

“Everything he touched went in. It was all right, here is a chance, boom. Maybe here is another chance, boom. That’s kind of how it was for three straight sets.

“I didn’t play poorly in any way. It was just all on his racquet. It was very seldom that I was blown off the court like that. It was unbelievably impressive.”

Cilic, the ninth seed, made the quarter-finals when Japan’s Kei Nishikori retired with a rib injury in Monday’s fourth round.

Nishikori was his opponent in the final of the US Open in 2014.

Cilic, who has never faced Federer on grass, believes he can draw on that win in New York as he attempts to make the semi-finals at the All England Club for the first time.

“I can just look back at that match and know what things I was doing really well,” he said.

“Definitely since I’m working with Goran, we made, you know, three quarters in a row, which I have never done before. That’s a sign that we are working well.”

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Special Sunday for Berdych on Centre Court

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters)

Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych appreciated the history of the rare middle Sunday play at Wimbledon as much as he savoured his 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-1 victory over talented teenager Alexander Zverev.

Berdych and the German followed Serena Williams on to court in front of a packed crowd of lucky punters who bought tickets the day before for a hastily arranged extra day of matches to clear the backlog after rain scrambled the schedule.It is just the fourth time since the tournament started in 1877 that the weather has forced organisers to throw open the doors on what is traditionally a rest day for the players.

The last time was in 2004, the first in 1991.”To play on Sunday, on this Centre Court, I think it is very special,” Berdych, 30, said in a court-side interview.”I am one of the guys that really love traditions … it is just the fourth time in such a long history of the championship that we are playing on the middle Sunday.”I get a chance to play, I get a chance to play on Centre Court, so it can’t be better than that.”As a permanent fixture of the top 10 since 2010 and a runner-up at Wimbledon, losing to Rafa Nadal in the same year, Berdych knows class when he sees it and heralded his 19-year-old opponent, seeded 24, as a future grand slam winner.”He is definitely the guy are we going to hear about a lot,” he said of Zverev, who has equalled his best slam result after also reaching round three of the French Open.

Zverev dismissed any pressure from being talked up as a possible future number one.”There’s been a million future number ones that never got to number one. There’s other guys right now who want to become number one after Novak,” he told reporters.Berdych will face Jiri Vesely in an all-Czech fourth-round clash on Monday after Vesely beat 31st seed Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-2 6-2 7-5.

(Reporting by Alison Williams)

Tsonga beats marathon man Isner in another Wimbledon epic

By Pritha Sarkar LONDON, July 3 (Reuters)

A Frenchman being involved in a long — or rather very, very long — fifth set epic against John Isner at Wimbledon had a feeling of deja vu about it.However, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made sure he did not end up on the losing side as his compatriot Nicolas Mahut did six years ago after he saved a match point to beat the American marathon man 6-7(3) 3-6 7-6(5) 6-2 19-17 on “People’s Sunday”.

A backhand volley finally carried Tsonga into the fourth round after four hours and 24 minutes of nerve-jangling drama, with the fifth set alone lasting two hours and eight minutes.Isner had a match point on Tsonga’s serve while leading 16-15 but the Frenchman blasted a forehand winner to stay alive and 16 minutes later he was the one leaping into the air in celebration.”It’s good to be alive,” said a grinning Tsonga after he booked a fourth-round showdown with childhood friend and compatriot Richard Gasquet.

Compared to Isner and Mahut’s three-day struggle in “the endless match” — which dragged on for 11 hours, five minutes and culminated with the American winning the final set 70-68 — the class of 2016 never needed to showcase the same levels of mind-boggling endurance as it was all over in only two days.Resuming with Isner leading 7-6(3) 6-3 6-7(5), it took Tsonga just 25 minutes to draw level on Sunday and stretch the tussle into a highly-anticipated fifth set.

Once there, the only break point before the 32nd game of the set was at 5-5, but Isner dodged that bullet by hurling down an ace.While Tsonga and Isner showed little sign of wilting, umpire Carlos Bernardes was not feeling as lucid on his lofty perch and struggled to keep pace, announcing “Isner leads by 16…sss…to fif…15” as the match entered its fifth hour.But moments later it seemed that Isner would finally end Bernardes’s long day in the office.The 18th seed reached match point after Tsonga ended a rapid net exchange — which featured a slam-dunk smash and a flashy reflex volley — by swiping a backhand volley into the tramlines.

Tsonga reacted to the crisis by belting the ball out of Court Two to calm his nerves and went on to stay alive with a forehand winner before winning the next two points.The French 12th seed, who started to dread that “it’s going to be long like Nicolas (in 2010)” finally earned the breakthrough to go 18-17 up after his rival thumped a forehand wide.A double fault on his first match point kept the heart racing but a point later he was swinging his arms around and jumping up and down in triumph.”Hope I will have a good recovery from this one and be fit to play tomorrow,” said Tsonga, who has a 6-0 record in five-set matches at Wimbledon.

As for Isner, he felt the weather Gods had conspired against him as he felt he had been “on the schedule forever” after rain denied him the usual rest days at this year’s tournament.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

Weary Del Potro beaten by Pouille but unbowed

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters)

Juan Martin del Potro’s first Wimbledon campaign for three years ended as the Argentine crumbled to a 6-7(4) 7-6(6) 7-5 6-1 defeat by Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the third round on Sunday.

After three left wrist operations in three years had put his career in jeopardy, the 27-year-old remained upbeat about his prospects of re-joining the game’s elite, however.”I’m very confident, very positive with the situation,” a weary Del Potro, who has battled back to 165 after his ranking fell off a cliff, told reporters.”I played three matches in this tournament against big players. I did a great match today against the 30th player in the world and I was there very, very close to winning.”My level could be better at the end of the year or the next season but I need to work hard physically, my wrist, my backhands. Then I will be competitive on all surfaces.”

Del Potro’s backhand, the one his left battle-scarred wrist is needed for, has changed to take the strain off the joint.It was still effective enough for him to stun fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the previous round but against 32nd seed Pouille he was clearly suffering from fatigue.The fourth set sped away from him as Pouille booked a last-16 clash with Australian Bernard Tomic.”As you can see I’m exhausted,” the 2009 U.S. Open champion who has been robbed of large chunks of his career by injury, told reporters. “Yesterday was even worse than today.”My body is hurting everywhere but that’s normal after a big match against Wawrinka. I have to keep working hard because in the future I will need to be ready between matches and feel better physically than today.”Of course I’ve got frustrations, I feel sad for my loss but in the end that means I still have the fire in myself and that’s good.”

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)