Tennis

  • Logout
  • Member Center

Federer, Murray to clash in Wimbledon final

 

The Sports Network

Oddly enough, this marked the first-ever meeting between Djokovic and Federer on grass.

The six-time champion Federer, who is now 8-0 in his career Wimbledon semifinals, can regain the No. 1 ranking with a big title on Sunday.

The super Swiss will appear in a men's-record 24th Grand Slam final, looking to add to his record 16 titles.

"This is what you want to be playing for -- the Wimbledon trophy," Federer said. "I've got a tough task ahead of me."

Djokovic and Federer met for a 27th time and the Swiss icon now leads their all-time series, 15-12. Djokovic had won six of their last seven meetings.

Federer is now 6-5 in their career Grand Slam encounters, including 1-0 at Wimbledon.

The amazing Federer appeared in a record 32nd Grand Slam semifinal, as he passed Jimmy Connors for that distinction on Friday. And only Connors (84) and Boris Becker (71) have won more matches than Federer (65) on the hallowed lawns in this London suburb.

The Swiss legend, who reached seven straight Wimbledon finals from 2003-09, is still seeking his first Grand Slam title since the 2010 Australian Open. In addition to his six titles here, Federer was the 2008 Wimbledon runner-up to Rafael Nadal.

"There's obviously a lot on the line for me in terms of winning here, the all- time Grand Slam record, world No. 1," Federer said. "I'm also going into that match with some pressure, but I'm excited about it. That's what I play for."

The 25-year-old Djokovic, who had been an astounding 32-1 over his last five majors and 44-2 over his last seven Grand Slams, reached his first-ever Wimbledon final last year and captured his first-ever title here with a victory over Nadal.

The Belgrade native, who still holds the Aussie Open and U.S. Open titles, had won four of the previous six majors.

Playing in his ninth straight Grand Slam semifinal, Djokovic fell to 8-8 in his career major semis.

A top-two seed had won the last eight Wimbledon titles.

Meanwhile, Murray cruised past Tsonga in the first two sets before the Frenchman fought back in the third. Tsonga turned the tables on Murray by handling him in the third stanza much like he Brit rolled over the Frenchman in the opening frames.

And then the match heated up in a tight fourth.

Murray broke Tsonga for a 3-1 lead, only to see Tsonga break right back and then consolidate the break with a hold to level the fourth at 3-all.

Action stayed on serve over the next five games before the Brit set himself up with a break point, and much more importantly, a match point.

Murray, ahead 40-15 in the 12th game, connected for a cross-court forehand return winner to secure a berth in a final at a third Grand Slam event. Only the French Open final has eluded him to this point.

The Dunblane, Scotland native is now 1-3 in his career Wimbledon and 4-6 in his career majors semis.

Murray improved to 6-1 lifetime against Tsonga, which includes a quarterfinal victory here two years ago.

The 27-year-old former Aussie Open runner-up Tsonga appeared in his second straight Wimbledon (0-2) and fourth career Grand Slam semifinal (1-3) on Friday.

Murray needed 2 hours, 47 minutes to move on, which he did with the help of twice as many service breaks as Tsonga (4-2). The big-serving Tsonga smacked 11 aces in a losing cause and had seven more winners (47-40), but he also sprayed around 30 more unforced errors (42-12).

The Basel native Federer will appear in his 106th career final, seeking a 75th title. Only Connors (109), Ivan Lendl (94) and John McEnroe (77) have won more. Lendl, who owns eight major titles but never ran the table at Wimbledon, is currently Murray's coach.

Federer's Wimbledon titles came from 2003-2007 and again in 2009.

The 25-year-old Murray will perform in his 34th career final, seeking a 23rd title. He's 1-2 in his 2012 finals, including a loss at a Masters event in Miami.

Murray is 0-3 in his previous Grand Slam finals and has yet to win a set in such a match. He lost to Federer in the 2010 Aussie Open final and 2008 U.S. Open finale.

"I've had experience playing Roger in the finals of Slams before," Murray said. "I'm going to use that to my advantage and learn from my mistakes and also the things he did well."

The capable Murray is 8-7 lifetime against Federer, but the sublime Swiss has won their last two meetings, including a final in Dubai earlier this season. Federer has won both of their Grand Slam matchups.

Sunday's champion will pocket $1.8 million.

Get your Miami Heat Fan Gear!
The Miami Herald Sunday Edition: Subscribe now!

More from
Tennis

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

We have introduced a new commenting system called Disqus for our articles. This allows readers the option of signing in using their Facebook, Twitter, Disqus or existing MiamiHerald.com username and password.

Having problems? Read more about the commenting system on MiamiHerald.com.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK
0 comments

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category