Tennis News

Not only did Roger Federer dispel many doubters and naysayers with his remarkable fortnight at the Wimbledon Championships, he also got the support of former champion and tennis legend Bjorn Borg, who believes Sunday will mark Federer’s eighth Wimbledon title.

The Swiss star arrived at his 10th Wimbledon final with a flawless performance against Andy Murray in their Friday semi-final. It was a serving master-class from Federer, who won a hefty 86% of his first service points and struck 56 winners and 20 aces to close out the match in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4.

“That’s the best I’ve seen him play for many years, the best for maybe 10 years,” Borg told ESPN after Federer’s 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Murray. “He’s serving so well. It was great tennis.”

So convinced was Borg of Federer’s performance, that he has little doubt that the Swiss star should be considered the favourite, even though Djokovic holds the higher ranking and defeated him at this event last year.

“On Sunday, Federer will definitely be the favourite to win. He is playing well, moving well, he was doing everything he was supposed to. He is hitting the ball so cleanly and playing with a lot of confidence.

“It’s going to be interesting to see with Novak. I’m really surprised that Roger is playing as well as he is. Andy wasn’t playing badly, and it was a great match, but Federer was too good today. This match was an unbelievably good match.”

For the 40th time in their storied rivalry, the top two players in the world Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will cross paths on the professional tour, this time in a highly anticipated rematch at the Wimbledon Championships Final. For Federer, it is an opportunity to win his 18th Grand Slam title, and first in three years since he was crowned champion in 2012, while Djokovic remains on quest to defend the title he snatched from the Swiss during their memorable final last season. Federer leads the head-to-head series 20-19.

Roger Federer arrived at a remarkable 10th Wimbledon final with a flawless performance against Andy Murray in their Friday semi-final. It was a serving master-class from Federer, who won a hefty 86% of his first service points and struck 56 winners and 20 aces to close out the match in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4.

“Andy’s been playing very well for the season,” Federer told the BBC following the match. “There is so much expectation riding on the match. I’m unbelievably happy. I played so well in the biggest occasion today.

“I’ve been serving very well for the entire tournament. I wasn’t broken against one of the best returners. I kept the pressure up and went for my shots. I mixed it up like I usually do and kept pushing forward and staying focused. It all worked out really well.”

Novak Djokovic strolled into the final of the Wimbledon Championships with a straight sets win against No. 21 seed Richard Gasquet in the first semi-final on Centre Court. He won the match 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 to advance his head-to-head against the Frenchman to 12-1.

“The first set was really close,” said Djokovic. “I thought Richard played some really good tennis, especially from the backhand side. It was really difficult for me at times to play any kind of ball to his backhand side because he was really going for it, especially down the line. He made a lot of winners. He used the chipped backhand, slice variety as well… Winning the first set tie-break was psychologically very helpful for the rest of the match.”

The latest chapter in the remarkable rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be written on Sunday afternoon at the All England Club, as the two top competitors will cross paths once again in the final of the Wimbledon Championships. They’ve already met three this; Federer won the Dubai title while Djokovic lifted the Indian Wells and Rome trophies. Now they will meet once again, yet the stakes are far greater. Federer is in absolutely remarkable form, and if he can potentially carry forth the momentum from his near-perfect performance against Andy Murray, Federer will be closer than ever before to lifting a historic eighth title at Wimbledon.