Last man standing: Roger Federer only ‘big four’ member to survive Wimbledon quarters
After Andy Murray lost and Novak Djokovic was forced to retire with injury, Roger Federer’s path to the Wimbledon title looks wide open.
On Monday, there were four. Now there is one: Roger Federer, the only one of the big four to survive his quarterfinal match on Wednesday, defeating Milos Raonic, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4).
It was last year’s semifinal loss to Raonic, a tough five setter, that had the 18-time Grand Slam champion falling face down in the grass. The picture of the fallen Swiss Maestro splashed around the world, representative of an older champion trying to chase past glory. He hadn’t won a Grand Slam since 2012, and had been defeated by Novak Djokovic in the last two major finals he had been in, the 2015 Wimbledon and U.S. Open championships. After his loss to Raonic at last year’s grass slam, Federer cited a nagging knee injury and decided to put up his racquet and walk away for a while.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion underwent knee surgery last year and then sat out of the game for six months. Even his greatest fans contemplated that perhaps it was time for the tennis legend to call it quits, while Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic continued to battle for the rest of that year for titles and the top spot.
That was 2016. This is 2017.
A year older, the great Swiss player is the last man standing among the titans of Tennis. Rafael Nadal, his great rival, who he beat three times this year, and four times now in a row since last year, was defeated in an epic fourth round match against the grass court specialist Gilles Muller —who himself bowed out to Marin Cilic in five sets in the quarters.
The same day, the defending champion, Andy Murray, dealing with a nagging hip injury that has bothered him since the beginning of the year, also ousted on Center Court, by American Sam Querry, in five sets as well, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-6, 1-6. Following suit, Novak Djokovic, also dealing with an injury lost the first set tie break in his match against Tomas Berdych. With the second set going the Czech’s way, something was amiss, and the Serb called for the trainer. After a few games where he couldn’t get a game in, it was clear there was no use, and the 12-time Grand Slam champion retired in the second set.
The Swiss player made quick work of Raonic in three sets. Federer displayed incredible precision, achieving 46 winners compared with only nine unforced errors and winning 90 percent of his first serve points. The result was a stark contrast from last year, with a resurgent Federer displaying all the talent, speed and brilliance from the past, but adding some new tricks. With a piercing, beautiful backhand to boot, the Swiss legend is playing freer and more confidently than ever.
England’s Shakespeare wrote, “True nobility is exempt from fear,” (King Henry VI, part II) and perhaps Federer needed to step away from the game in order to appreciate it again and find fresh ways of employing his tennis genius.
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At age 35, Roger Federer is the second oldest player to go to a Grand Slam semifinal. If he makes it to the final and wins, he will own the Wimbledon record outright with eight titles (he’s now tied with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw at seven). Federer owns the head-to-head with the other three semifinalists, including his next up opponent, Berdych. Although the Czech has beaten him six times, the Swiss tips the scale at 18, including two times this year at Miami and the Australian Open, and the five times prior to that. Fed owns the head-to-head at 6-1 with Cilic, having beaten him the last time at Wimbledon, and has beaten Querrey all three times they have played.
It may be a wide open draw on the women’s side, but on the men’s all signs point to the man from Basel being crowned for his 19th Grand Slam title.