Federer in charge as main rivals bow out
Effervescent Roger Federer moved serenely into the Wimbledon semifinals a few weeks before his 36th birthday and then expressed his concern for two stricken rivals yesterday.
Before the Swiss enjoyed a majestic 6-4 6-2 7-6(4) defeat of Canada’s Milos Raonic on Centre Court, defending champion Andy Murray hobbled to a five-set defeat by American Sam Querrey – his nagging hip injury finally getting the better of him.
Later Novak Djokovic, the man who beat Federer in the 2014 and 2015 finals and was his prospective semifinal opponent this year, quit while trailing 7-6 (2), 2-0 with an elbow injury against Czech Tomas Berdych.
In tomorrow’s semifinals, Querrey will face 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, of Croatia, who also won a five-setter yesterday, getting past 16th-seeded Gilles Muller in five sets with the help of 33 aces.
On the other half of the draw, Federer will face Berdych.
Federer, who skipped the French Open this year to give his body time to recover from his incredible exploits in the first half of the season which he began by winning an 18th major at the Australian Open, said he hoped Murray would not live to regret battling through the pain barrier.
‘‘You wish them well right away as a rival to them and a friend,’’ Federer, who is now favourite to claim a record eighth Wimbledon title, five years after his last one, said.
‘‘You want them to be healthy again. Andy, I hope by playing he didn’t make things worse. It’s big for him to step out on court and give it a go, even though maybe knowing, like me last year, the chances are slim he was going to defend this title.’’
Federer said he had learned to manage his body – citing last year’s French Open when he arrived at Roland Garros struggling with knee and back injuries and decided to pull out of the tournament before it began.
It ended a run of 65 consecutive grand slam appearances.
‘‘I was doing fitness with my fitness coach and after like 10 minutes, I looked at him and said, I don’t know what we’re doing in Paris seriously. My knee is swollen. I don’t feel ready to go. My back is funny. My knee is not well. What are we doing?
‘‘As a team, we just decided that it’s best to skip it. So it wasn’t should I or shouldn’t I? The body didn’t really allow me to play, in my opinion. I got a little sad, I must admit, because I felt like it was a great record for me to keep going.’
‘‘But health is so much more important than trying to hang onto some sort of a record.’’
Murray and Djokovic said they would reassess their health their schedules in light of their injuries, which led to speculation that the US Open, which starts in late August, could be in doubt for them.
Murray had been hampered in the lead-up to Wimbledon by his hip problem.
‘‘I was pretty close today. It wasn’t like I was, like, a million miles away from winning the match,’’ he said. ‘‘Obviously the end was a bit of a struggle.’’
Djokovic said: ’’I haven’t felt this much pain ever since I’ve had this injury, so it’s not a good sign.
‘‘Obviously, schedule will be readjusted.’’