Seven-time champion Roger Federer reached his 10th Wimbledon semi-final on Wednesday with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over French 12th seed Gilles Simon.
The second seed will face either Andy Murray or Vasek Pospisil, in what will be his 37th Grand Slam semi-final, for a place in Sunday’s title match.
The 33-year-old Swiss, bidding to become the oldest Wimbledon champion in the Open Era, shrugged off two rain delays as well as being broken for the first time at the tournament to complete victory in just 94 minutes.
Federer fired 11 aces and 36 winners as he secured a sixth win in eight meetings with Simon, who was attempting to reach the last-four of a major for the first time.
WATCH Not for the first time, @rogerfederer soaks up the applause at #Wimbledon http://t.co/Xhymb0JW1c
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2015
“The stop and go with the rain are always tough but I think I used them to my advantage. They helped me rather than hindered me,” said Federer who said he was looking forward to a potential semi-final against 2013 champion Murray should he get past unseeded Pospisil in his quarter-final.
Federer defeated the British third seed in the 2012 Wimbledon final before Murray gained revenge just weeks later in the Olympic Games final.
“We both like to look back on that summer of 2012. If we knew I would win Wimbledon and him Olympics, I think we both would have taken it. It was a great summer for us,” said the world number two.
Federer broke for a 3-0 lead in the first set against Simon before rain sent the players off Court One for the first rain delay.
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Forty minutes later, they returned and Federer swiftly claimed the opener on the back of 15 winners to Simon’s four.
Swiss was 4-3 up with a break in the second and then moved to 5-3 on his 116th consecutive service hold, a streak stretching back to the first round in Halle last month.
But that record was shattered in the next game when 30-year-old Simon broke the 17-time major winner, who had only faced two break points at this year’s Wimbledon before Wednesday.
Federer took swift revenge, however, by regaining the advantage and he was serving for a two sets lead when the showers returned, causing another hold-up for 40 minutes.
Federer: “The stop & goes are tough…I’m happy I managed my opponent & the conditions well today” #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/kNbSngwR2y
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2015
It had little effect on the Swiss great as a service winner and back-to-back aces gave him the second set 7-5.
Federer breezed through the decider with breaks in the first and seventh games.
Murray was playing his eighth successive Wimbledon quarter-final, taking a 3-0 lead into his match-up with world number 56 Pospisil who had never previously got beyond the third round of a major.
All their three meetings have come in the last 10 months with the 25-year-old Canadian unable to win a single set.
