By staff and wire reports
For the first time, Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.
The world No. 1 and defending champion Djokovic and the six-time Wimbledon champion Federer advanced into a collision course semifinal Wednesday with decisive straight-set quarterfinal wins.
With Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton watching from the Royal Box, Federer earned a record 32nd major tournament semifinal berth and inched closer to a record-tying seventh Wimbledon title with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 thrashing of Mikhail Youzhny, who found out just before the match that his wife had given birth to their second child. Federer’s 32ndmajor tournament semifinal broke him from a tie with Jimmy Connors, who reached 31 semifinals at Grand Slam tournaments in his career.
Djokovic, playing on Court No. 1, defeated Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.
Federer has a 14-12 edge in his series with Djokovic. They’ve met in Grand Slam semifinals five times the past two years, with Djokovic winning four of those matches. This meeting, however, will be their first match-up on grass.
“A nice matchup,” Federer said. “Obviously I’m aware that Novak is the defending champion and the world No. 1. That’s not going to make it easy.”
“It’s always a pleasure playing against Roger,” Djokovic said. “Obviously he’s a great champion. He has been so dominant and consistent in these Grand Slams, and he’s really an ultimate challenge on grass courts.”
The other semifinal will bit British hope Andy Murray, looking to become the first Brit to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeking to become the first French man to win at SW19 since Yvon Petra in 1946.
Tsonga, seeded No. 5, advanced to the semifinals for the second year in a row by defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2. Like Murray, the 27-year-old Tsonga is seeking his first major title. The No. 4-seeded Murray escaped from his opponent, David Ferrer, serving for a two-sets-to-love lead and had a set point at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker, but came back to win 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Federer, ranked No. 3, seeks to match the record of seven Wimbledon titles set by William Renshaw in the 1880s and tied by Pete Sampras in 2000. If he wins the title, he’ll reclaim the top ranking from Djokovic and tie Sampras’ record for most weeks at the top.