Roger Federer’s bid for a record eighth Wimbledon crown remains right on track after beating Milos Raonic, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The 35-year-old reached his 10th Grand Slam semifinal without dropping a set, passing Rafael Nadal for the most such runs by a man in the Open era. Federer exacted sweet revenge against the man who eliminated him in last year’s Wimbledon Championships, destroying Raonic in just one hour and 58 minutes.
Next up for Federer is a final four clash with Tomas Berdych. The 18-time Grand Slam champion will fancy his chances against the Czech as he has won 12 of his 18 previous matches against Berdych, including each of their last seven meetings. For Federer to extend his dominance against Berdych, he needs to continue his excellent play on the service end. He won 90 percent of his first serve points in the win against Raonic. Federer is 12th in that department in this year’s Championships, winning 82 percent of his first serve points through the first five matches.
Tomas Berdych moved to within two victories of his first Grand Slam title after Novak Djokovic retired from their last eight clash with a right shoulder injury. Berdych was up by a set to none and 2-0 in the second set when Djokovic decided to pull out of their quarterfinal match. Things are bound to get tougher, though, for the Czech star as he will next face the great Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro hasn’t dropped a set in a Grand Slam match since his epic five-set win against Rafael Nadal in the 2017 Australian Open final.
For Berdych to record a major shock in the next round, he needs to dominate with his service game. Berdych’s serve was solid against Djokovic as he converted 60 percent of his first serves. Berdych took full advantage of that fact, winning 25 of his 27 first serve points for an incredible 93 percent clip. Berdych also needs to continue his excellent net play if he is to upset the mighty Federer. He won six of his seven net points in the victory against Djokovic. In this tournament thus far, Berdych has won 69 percent of his total net points (79-of-114).
Berdych will take comfort in the fact as well that he has defeated Federer in this tournament before. Berdych stunned Federer in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, winning in four sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Writer’s Prediction
Federer (-800) keeps the momentum going with a straight-sets win against Berdych.
