Stan stunned by Federer’s fighting spirit

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  • Still going strong: Federer was happy to bury the ghost of last year’s Wimbledon defeat.

    A year ago, Roger Federer had suffered a shock defeat to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round at Wimbledon.

    Now, the Swiss is through to his ninth semi-final at the All England Club after over­coming his good friend and com­patriot Stan Wawrinka in four sets yesterday.

    The victory – his 72nd here – saw him surpass Boris Becker to take sole ownership of second place on the list of most Open Era match wins at Wimbledon.

    And even though Federer dropped his first ever set to Wawrinka at a major to go behind in their quarter-final, he fought back valiantly to seal the victory 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 and enter his 35th career Grand Slam semi-final.

    “There was a lot on the line today playing against Stan. Quar­ters sort of shows the direction on how you’re playing and all these things,” said Federer, who next fac­es Canada’s Milos Raonic.

    “I’m really pleased to have come through. Last year was a major disappointment for me because I always see Wimbledon as one of my main goals of the season.

    “I try to be in the best possible shape, so last year was rough. I was very disappointed. I went back to the practice courts, didn’t have any options left at that point.”

    Wawrinka, playing for a third consecutive day after rain messed up his scheduled matches, had the better start and broke for a 3-1 lead in the opening set.

    He saved a break point with a sublime volley to hold two games later and he hit a power­ful forehand winner to grab the set on his second chance.

    The second set saw no breaks and it was Federer who opened up a 6-3 lead in the tiebreak.

    The first two set points were saved but a fearless

    Federer served and volleyed on his second serve to snatch the breaker and level the match.

    Wawrinka asked for the trainer between sets and took some pills but wouldn’t reveal what was both­ering him after the match, refusing to give any excuses for his defeat.

    Federer was clinical in the third set, hitting just one unforced error and he broke in the seventh game to get the lead he needed to clinch a two-sets-to-one lead and complet­ed the win on his fifth match point.

    The seven-time Wimbledon champion later explained how tough it is to play and beat a good friend like Wawrinka.

    “I was thinking about it midway through the match. I was like ‘oh, I’m playing Stan’. It hit me midway through the sec­ond set,” said Federer. “It goes in phases. You need some energy to push yourself. You don’t necessarily want to beat him, but you want to win.”

    It was the first time in history two Swiss players featured in a Wimble­don quarter-finals.

    Wawrinka was pushed to admit that playing three days in a row had taken its toll.

    “I know it is tough to play three days in a row, especially when you play the third against Roger," said the world No.3, Wawrinka. "You have to be more than 100 per cent ready physically, but mentally also. It cost me a lot of energy at the beginning of the match to play at that level.”

    Federer next faces Raonic, who became the first Canadian man to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam since 1923, by ending Nick Kyrgios’ dream run with a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4) win.

    The No8 seed struck 73 winners including 39 aces to defeat the 19-year-old Australian, who had upset Rafael Nadal in the previous round.

    “I was struggling physically about halfway through the second set. I was feeling sore in a couple places,” said Kyrgios who conced­ed that his huge four-set win over Nadal the day before had an effect on the match.

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