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Roger Federer produced a masterclass to oust Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in an hour and 34 minutes, booking his spot in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Federer came into the match with zero breaks on his service games. Simon started strongly with two backhand passing winners in the opening game, but the Swiss hung on with four big serves.
Federer was the first to gain edge in this encounter in a long second game that had four deuces as he struck a brilliant passing shot down the right-hand sideline to take the break.
After a slight rain delay, Simon came on board in the first set in the fourth game. He did not have much of a chance on Federer’s serve as he tried to stage a comeback from 30-30 in the ninth game. Federer finished the set with a thunderous ace and looked at complete ease.
Federer got 85% of his first serves in the second set and got the crucial break in the seventh game when Simon hit a forehand long in a lengthy rally. It was not all over for the Frenchman though as he earned himself three break points when Federer was serving for the set at 5-4. He needed only one as the No. 2 seed hit his foreand wide.
A whipped forehand in the 11th game handed back the advantage to Federer as he leads 6-5, Federer hit three aces to take a two sets to love lead on court 1.
A couple of unforced errors by Simon in the opening game gave Federer break points which he duly converted. Federer got the second break in the seventh game when Simon netted a weak forehand. The Swiss had no further trouble as he served out the match to book a place in the semifinals.
Murray sails through
No. 3 seed Andy Murray continued his impressive run in the Championships with a clinical 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win over Vasek Pospisil.
Murray won 82% of first serve points in the opening set and converted one break point opportunity to seal the set. The second set was closely contested with Pospisil coming to the net more often to finish off points. Murray hung in there and broke Pospisil late in the second set before leading two sets to love.
The Canadian got a break point in the third set, but failed to capitalise on it. Murray was in no mood to extend his stay on Center Court as he broke Pospisil to close out the set and match.
The Scot was impressive at the net, winning 9 out of 9 points in the third set.
The semifinal is a repeat of the 2012 Wimbledon final, which Federer won to claim his 17th Grand Slam title.
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