Six-time champion Roger Federer reached a record eighth Wimbledon final on Friday when he defeated world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

In the pair’s 27th meeting but first on grass, Federer booked his place in his 24th Grand Slam final where he will face either Andy Murray or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Victory on Sunday will take the 30-year-old level with Pete Sampras’s record of seven Wimbledon wins, allow him to reclaim the world number one ranking and clinch a 17th career Grand Slam crown.

Djokovic, who was bidding to reach a fifth successive Grand Slam final, had defeated Federer six times in their last seven meetings.

But Federer, playing in a record 23rd successive major semifinal, was not to be denied as he buried the heartache of having been knocked out in the quarterfinals in the last two years.

He also took his record of semi-final victories to eight out of eight at the All England Club.
With Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar and pop singer Kylie Minogue watching from the Royal Box, Federer provided the early entertainment by easing to the first set in just 24 minutes.

The Swiss earned the break point he needed in the sixth game when Djokovic, who fell on the surface made slippy by the closed roof above, could only net a running backhand.

A shout from the crowd then caused Djokovic to check his service motion and Federer pounced with a low return which the Serb could only dump into the net.

Federer served up two successive aces in the ninth game to lay the foundation for wrapping up the opening set.
Djokovic, who came back from two sets to love down to beat Federer in the semifinals of the US Open last year, hit back in the second set, breaking with a razor-sharp backhand down the line for a 2-0 lead.

The match was level when the champion fired his fifth ace of the contest to take the second set.
A Djokovic double fault then gave Federer break point in the sixth game of the third which the Serb saved after a brutal, 23-shot rally.

Another fierce exchange, this time 26 shots, gave Federer a second break point but Djokovic’s iron defence kept him level at 3-3.

However, Federer carved out two set points in the 10th game when Djokovic missed an easy overhead.
The champion saved the first but Federer converted the second with a leaping smash into an open court.

Federer was suddenly and comfortably on top, capitalising on a loose Djokovic service game to break for a 2-0 lead in the fourth set.

Djokovic was under siege and fought off three break points to hang on at 4-2 down.
But Federer claimed victory in the ninth game on his first match point when Djokovic netted a service return.

Paes-Vesnina in mixed doubles quarters
Veteran Leander Paes was the lone Indian left in fray at the Wimbledon as he reached the mixed doubles quarterfinals with Elena Vesnina after Rohan Bopanna and Jie Zheng crashed to a straight-set defeat in the last-eight stage of the same event.

Fourth seeds Paes and Russia’s Vesnina staved off a stiff challenge from the Belarusian combination of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka to win 7-6 (3) 6-3 and enter the quarterfinals.

They will now be up against the Australian-Russian pair of Paul Hanley and Alla Kudryavtseva in the quarterfinals. However, it was curtains for 10th seeds Bopanna and Zheng, who lost 2-6 5-7 to second-seeded Americans Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond in just 55 minutes.

Paes, who was at the centre of a massive players’ revolt that shook Indian tennis just before the Wimbledon, has a good shot at getting a confidence-boosting title on grass-court just ahead of the Olympics later this month.

Rejected by his first-choice Indian men’s doubles partners for the Olympics, the experienced warhorse would be seeking to prove a point as his mixed doubles partner for the big event, Sania Mirza, too had taken pot shots at him before agreeing to partner him.

The players, who had criticised him so heavily, have all crashed out of their respective events in the Wimbledon, leaving Paes as the lone Indian flag bearer at the season’s third Grand Slam. Paes and Vesnina were pushed hard in the match on Thursday but the duo drew from their experience to emerge triumphant.

The first set went on serve and neither of the two teams could earn a break but with a fantastic first serve, the fourth seeds had the slight upper hand which proved decisive in the tie-breaker.

The fact that Paes and Vesnina did not commit a single unforced error also tilted the scale in their favour after an opening battle of 49 minutes.

The Indo-Russian combine was clearly the better of the two pairs in the second set as it converted two break points while saving seven to seal the issue after 43 minutes.

In contrast, Bopanna and Zheng were thoroughly outplayed by their more experienced and higher-ranked rivals.
The 10th seeds were broken thrice in the opening set itself which Bryan and Raymond won in just 21 minutes.

In the second set, which lasted a little over half an hour, break points again proved decisive as Bryan and Raymond converted both the chances they earned to emerge triumphant.