ROGER MAKES

NISHIKORI FEDERER 6 1 4 466 4 6

ROGER FEDERER racked up his record 100th Wimbledon victory yesterday to set up a blockbuster semi-final with Rafa Nadal.

And the Swiss superstar insisted his last defeat to the Spaniard on the French clay last month is irrelevant back on grass.

Eight-times champion Federer came back from dropping the opening set to see off No.8 seed Kei Nishikori to become the first player in history to rack up 100 wins at a single Grand Slam event.

Fed said: “It’s special. It has been a lot of years I’ve been coming here. That’s given me the opportunity to win a lot naturally.”

And Federer and Nadal will meet for the 40th time – and for the first time at Wimbledon since their epic 2008 final.

Nadal won that in five sets, a classic lasting four hours and 48 minutes.

Federer said: “It is 11 years since our last match here at Wimbledon. That is a long time. We will see. We are both in form. It will be a good match.

“People always hype it up. It was a joy to play against Rafa on his court at the French Open and it will be to play him here at Wimbledon.”

Nadal leads their head-to-head record by 24-15 but Federer won six consecutive matches before losing the French Open semi-final to the 12-time champion.

Asked which past matches would have most relevance tomorrow, the 20-time Grand Slam winner said: “Not so much the French Open. It was so windy – it was insane.

“Maybe the Australian Open final. Obviously, best-of-five set match, five sets.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Who cares? It’s about how has he played so far, how have I played so far. I hope it goes my way.

“It’s going to be tough. Rafa can hurt anybody on any surface. He’s that good.

“It’s impressive to see how healthy he has stayed.

“A lot of them were saying, ‘oh, it’s the end, by 2008’. Similar to me in 2009. We’re still here.”

Nadal reached his seventh semi-final by beating Sam Querrey 7-5 6-2 6-2.

The Mallorcan said: “Now to play against Roger always is a unique situation. I’m excited to be back on this court against him after 11 years.

“It means a lot for me and probably for him too.”