(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Roger Federer reached his 11th Wimbledon final in 2017 following a 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 triumph over Tomas Berdych in two hours and 20 minutes. Roger prevailed in their semi-final clash and beat Tomas for the 19th time in 25 duels, the eighth in a row.
Federer delivered his second win over Berdych from three Wimbledon encounters and improved to 30-2 in 2017. The Swiss advanced into his 29th Major final, becoming the oldest Wimbledon finalist since Ken Rosewall in 1974. Roger secured a place in the Wimbledon final without losing a set for the third time after 2006 and 2008, proving again that age is just a number.
As the result suggests, it was a close match. Roger won the crucial points in the tie breaks of the first and second sets and grabbed a pivotal break at 3-3 in the third to emerge at the top. It was a high-quality and competitive match, with Tomas giving his best to stay in contention, fighting until the last point.
Federer dropped serve three times ahead of the semi-final, and his initial shot also worked like a charm in this one.The Swiss got broken once from six chances offered to his opponent, defending his second serve nicely and taking 60% of the points after missing the first.
Federer stole 36% of the return points and turned them into two breaks from nine chances. Berdych defended seven break points, but it was not enough to keep him in contention after falling in both tie breaks. Tomas fired 31 winners and 19 unforced errors, a decent ratio that still failed to match Roger’s 53-20!
Federer settled into a fine rhythm early on, creating a break chance in the encounter’s first game. Tomas saved it and stayed in touch until 2-2. The Swiss pushed strong on the return again in the fifth game and grabbed a break with a forehand drive-volley winner.
Suddenly, Federer played a loose service game at 4-3 and experienced his fourth break since the start of the tournament after a costly double fault. Berdych denied two break points in the 11th game with service winners and reached a tie break.
Roger Federer defeated Tomas Berdych in the 2017 Wimbledon semi-final.
The Czech missed a routine forehand at 3-4, and the Swiss clinched the breaker 7-4 for momentum.
Tomas struggled on serve in the second set’s fourth game, erasing two break points with winners and remaining in touch. Berdych gathered a boost after that pivotal hold and dropped only three points in the following four service games.
He created a break chance in the seventh game, and Federer denied it with another forehand drive winner. The set went into a tie break, and the more experienced player controlled his strokes. Roger grabbed two mini-breaks and forged a 5-1 advantage following some cracking strokes.
Berdych pulled one mini-break back, reducing the deficit to 6-4 before netting a ball in the 11th point to hand the breaker to Federer and fall further behind. Tomas never came from two sets to love down at Majors before, and this was not a match to change that negative streak despite a solid effort.They stayed neck and neck at the start of the third set, and Roger squandered a break chance at 2-2, accompanied by some strong words in German.
The sixth game proved how costly that miss could have been, as Tomas created two break points that could have sent him 4-2 ahead. Federer stayed calm and saved both with booming aces, surviving a scare and drawing momentum.
Tomas cracked under pressure in the seventh game, playing a couple of loose shots and spraying a forehand error to get broken and send Roger closer to the finish line. Federer did not ask for a second chance, serving well in games eight and ten and securing a place in his 11th Wimbledon final, 14 years after the first one!
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