Wimbledon SF Preview: Federer v. Berdych

The last time Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer met late in the second week of The Championships, Federer could barely be stopped at Wimbledon. The Swiss right-hander was attempting to reach his eighth consecutive final and win his seventh title at the All England Club.

But Berdych summoned some of his best tennis and denied Federer those opportunities, hitting the Swiss off the court during their 2010 quarter-final. Now all Berdych needs to do is repeat that performance under similar circumstances when they take Centre Court following Friday’s first quarter-final.

“It’s hard to compare… After so many years, I have so much more experience from that time and everything,” Berdych said, looking back at his 2010 win. “Let’s see. It’s going to be interesting.”

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This fortnight, Federer has again looked unbeatable on the grass. The 35 year old has yet to drop a set and has hardly looked troubled. In his closest contest, a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) quarter-final win against 2016 finalist Milos Raonic, Federer won 90 per cent of his first-serve points (55/61) and struck 46 winners to only nine unforced errors. Wednesday’s match was also the longest he’s been on court – only one hour and 58 minutes.

“I’m playing very well. I’m rested. I’m fresh. I’m confident, too,” Federer said.

The third seed will try to check off a variety of historical marks when he plays in his 12^th Wimbledon semi-final (10-1). Federer is trying to become the second oldest man to a reach a Wimbledon final in the Open Era.

Oldest men to reach Grand Slam final (Open Era)

*Player ages are calculated at the end of the tournament

Federer is looking to reach his 11^th Wimbledon final and extend the all-time record that he took sole ownership of at 2012 Wimbledon.

Wimbledon finals reached (all-time)

The right-hander is also looking to reach his 29th Grand Slam final and extend the all-time record that he took sole ownership of at 2009 Wimbledon. Federer has a 28-13 win-loss record in Grand Slam semi-finals.

Grand Slam finals reached (all-time)

One record that Federer has already achieved is most Wimbledon semi-final appearances. The Basel native now stands alone atop the list.

No. of Wimbledon semi-finals (Open Era)

“He’s a really exceptional tennis player… I think he’s the greatest of them all. It’s a great challenge to actually have the opportunity to play him,” Berdych said.

The 6’5” right-hander will be looking to make his own history when he attempts to reach his second Wimbledon final and equal his best Grand Slam performance.

Berdych is bidding to join Ivan Lendl as the only Czech men in the Open Era to reach multiple Wimbledon finals. Jan Kodes is the only other Czech man to have reached the Wimbledon final. Kodes is the only Czech Wimbledon men’s singles champion, having won the title in 1973 by defeating Alex Metreveli.

Czech men in Wimbledon final (Open Era)

Berdych has had to battle more so than Federer to make the semi-finals. The 11^th seed was pushed to four sets in his first- (d. Chardy) and second-round (d. Harrison) wins. In the fourth round, Berdych needed five sets to upset eighth seed Dominic Thiem 6-3 in the fifth. On Wednesday, though, Berdych competed for only 63 minutes since Novak Djokovic retired down 7-6(2), 2-0 in the second set.

“I’m probably in the best possible situation I can be right now. I had a pretty good run so far… Really, I cannot be in a better position before Friday’s match,” Berdych said.

Some notes and statistics courtesy of ITF.