Roger Federer is back where he belongs - in the semifinals of Wimbledon. Gone is all but a bad memory of last year's early round loss. His good friend and co-patriot Stan Wawrinka gave him a strong test for the first two sets of the quarterfinal match, hitting emphatic winners to keep Roger off balance, and breaking Federer's serve for the first time in the tournament to take the first set. The second set tiebreak was crucial; down two sets would have been awfully hard to come back from. But Roger held strong, taking the tiebreak to even things up at a set a piece.
From there Stan seemed to suffer from a bit of an upset stomach, plus the effects of playing his third match in three days, and Roger was able to secure a break in each of the next two sets. He did have a bit of a hiccup trying to close out the match, having several deuces and even a break point, but he did eventually seal up match point. I think it's actually good that he had a test in this match. His last four matches have been stressless matches for him and his fans; but we all know a person can't win a grand slam title coasting through all seven matches, so might as well get him toughened up for it at this stage.
Now he will have a day to rest, after having to play two days in a row, before he faces his next opponent, Milos Raonic, who is into his first major semifinal. Roger leads the head-to-head 4-0, but Milos has managed to take a set off of him three of those times. Federer has only been broken one time in the tournament, Raonic twice. Hopefully Roger will be able to get a read on his serve to give him the edge.
We now know that one of these four guys will be holding the trophy on Sunday - Federer, Djokovic, Raonic or Dimitrov. The dream of an 8th Wimbledon title is within sight.
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