MX23RW : Friday, April 26 22:27:29| >> :600:146751360:146751360:

Roger Federer expects to face "very different" Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon

The Swiss is the first man to achieve the feat at SW19.

Roger Federer brought up a century of wins at Wimbledon to set up a mouth-watering semi-final with Rafael Nadal.

The eight-time champion, who won his first game at SW19 as a 19-year-old in 2001, beat Kei Nishikori 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-final on Centre Court.

He set up the 40th instalment of one of tennis' great rivalries and their first here since the epic 2008 final.

And Federer is looking forward to ending the wait for a rematch.

"He has improved so much over the years on this surface," Federer said. "He's playing also very different than he used to.

"We haven't played each other in a long, long time on this surface. He's serving way different.

"I remember back in the day how he used to serve, and now how much bigger he's serving, how much faster he finishes points.

"It's impressive to see how sort of healthy he's stayed. A lot of them are saying, 'Oh, it's the end', by 2008. Similar to me in 2009. We're still here. So it's nice to play each other again."

It is the semi-final that everyone wanted and Nadal did his bit by beating Sam Querrey.

The third seed's 7-5 6-2 6-2 win was not entirely straightforward but Nadal was more than good enough to continue the big three's domination by following Federer and Novak Djokovic into the last four.

This is the first time since 2007 that the trio have all made the semi-finals here together, while before last month's French Open it had not happened at any grand slam for seven years.

Nadal said: "First of all, it is a great feeling to be back in the semi-finals, to be able to be playing at this level of tennis is great news. Very happy the way that we managed to be in that round.

"Playing against Roger always is a unique situation. I am excited to be back on this court against him after 11 years."

Djokovic 'dismantled' David Goffin's game to cruise into a ninth semi-final.

The defending champion was an early break down but from there was utterly ruthless, winning 10 games in a row across the three sets in a 6-4 6-0 6-2 victory.

Djokovic will be a heavy favourite to make a sixth final when he takes on Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday.

Djokovic could not have been happier with his performance, saying: "I've been playing my best tennis in this tournament in the last two rounds. Especially today, second set and third set against Goffin, who was in form, I felt like I managed to dismantle his game and find always the right shots."

Bautista Agut is happy to put his stag party on hold after reaching his first grand slam semi-final by beating Guido Pella 7-5 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Grass is not Bautista Agut's strongest surface, so much to the point that he arranged his stag do to be held in the second week of the tournament.

The 31-year-old should be in Ibiza with his friends as he prepares for his November wedding, but is preferring life in London at the minute, ahead of his meeting with Djokovic.

He said: "I had planned to be in Ibiza right now. We had everything organised already. My friends, six of them, are all there. Well, it feels better to be here in London. I think they will fly on Friday."

ID:364563: cacheID:364563:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:26950:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Roger Federer pictured at Wimbledon on July 8, 2019
Read Next:
Roger Federer wary of Kei Nishikori challenge at Wimbledon
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Bublik
Carballes Baena
10am
Marozsan
Cerundolo
10am
Musetti
Seyboth Wild
10am
Paul
Klein
10am
Rublev
Bagnis
10am
Andreeva
Noskova
10am
Bronzetti
Rybakina
10am
Garcia
Wang
10am
Pavlyuchenkova
Saville
11.30am
Altmaier
Fils
11.30am
Martin Etcheverry
Shapovalov
11.30am
Alexandrova
Krueger
11.30am
Bucsa
Kasatkina
11.30am
Dolehide
Kalinina
11.30am
Jimenez Kasintseva
Paolini
11.30am
Linette
Sabalenka
1pm
Baez
Van Assche
1pm
Hurkacz
Draper
1pm
Bejlek
Kalinskaya
1pm
Cristian
Krejcikova
1pm
Kostyuk
Sherif
2pm
Zheng
Putintseva
2.30pm
Humbert
Van De Zandschulp
2.30pm
Darderi
Fritz
2.30pm
Boulter
Montgomery
3pm
Shevchenko
Alcaraz
3.30pm
Vondrousova
Rogers
4pm
Griekspoor
Daniel
4pm
Munar
Struff
5pm
Navone
Rune
7pm
Coric
Zverev
8.30pm
Collins
Danilovic
11.30am
Shang
Davidovich Fokina


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!