2014 Wimbledon Men’s SF Open Thread: Djokovic v Dimitrov, Federer v Raonic
- 204 Comments
The men’s semifinals are set for Friday at Wimbledon. Young stars Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic will try to continue their best ever Grand Slam events by challenging the two of the greats, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
NO. 1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 11 GRIGOR DIMITROV (BUL)
Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 3-1
Top seed and 2011 Wimbledon champion DJOKOVIC is bidding to reach his 3rd final here and his 14th Grand Slam final overall. His has a 13-9 win-loss record in his 22 previous Grand Slam semifinals.
Djokovic is bidding to reach his 14th Grand Slam final and close the gap on the 5 players in equal-7th place (with 15 Grand Slam final appearances) on the all-time list of most appearances in Grand Slam finals.
Djokovic is bidding to win his 7th Grand Slam title. He has won titles at the Australian Open in 2008
(d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), 2011 (d. Andy Murray), 2012 (d. Rafael Nadal) and 2013 (d. Murray); 2011 Wimbledon (d. Nadal); and the 2011 US Open (d. Nadal).
Djokovic can only reclaim the No. 1 ranking on Monday 7 July if he wins the title here. He last held the No. 1 ranking the week commencing 30 September 2013.
DIMITROV is bidding to become the first Bulgarian player – man or woman – to reach the final at a Grand Slam event. Tsvetana Pironkova is the only other Bulgarian player to reach the last 4 at a major at 2010 Wimbledon.
At 23 years 51 days, Dimitrov is bidding to become the youngest man to reach a Grand Slam final since Andy Murray (aged 22 years 261 days) at the 2010 Australian Open. He would become the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon final since Rafael Nadal aged 22 years 33 days in 2008.
Dimitrov is looking to reach the final on his 5th Wimbledon appearance. Pat Cash, Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Goran Ivanisevic and Pete Sampras all reached their first Wimbledon final in their 5th appearance here.
Dimitrov is bidding to record back-to-back wins over Top 3 players for the first time in his career. In his last meeting with a Top 3 player, he defeated No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals at 2014 Queen’s. He has a 3-9 win-loss record against Top 3 players overall.
NO. 4 ROGER FEDERER (SUI) v NO. 8 MILOS RAONIC (CAN)
Head-to-head: Federer leads 4-0
7-time Wimbledon champion FEDERER is bidding to reach his 9th Wimbledon final and extend the all-time record that he took sole ownership of at 2012 Wimbledon.
Federer is also looking to reach his 25th Grand Slam final, and extend the all-time record that he took sole ownership of at 2009 Wimbledon. Federer has a 24-10 win-loss record in Grand Slam semifinals.
Federer is bidding to become the 2nd different man in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final aged 32 or over. At 32 years 332 days, he would become the 3rd oldest Wimbledon finalist overall.
Aged 32 years 332 days, Federer is bidding to become the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Andre Agassi (aged 35 years 135 days) at the 2005 US Open. He is the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Jonas Bjorkman (aged 34 years 108 days) at 2006 Wimbledon.
Federer has reached his 35th Grand Slam semifinal and extended the record he broke at 2012 Wimbledon for the most Grand Slam semifinal appearances.
RAONIC is bidding to become the first Canadian man in history to reach a Grand Slam final. [NB. If Eugenie Bouchard fails to reach the final in the women’s event here, Raonic will be bidding to become the first Canadian player in history to reach a Grand Slam final.]
At 23 years 191 days, Raonic is bidding to become the youngest man to reach a Grand Slam final since Andy Murray (aged 22 years 261 days) at the 2010 Australian Open. He is also looking to become the youngest man to reach the Wimbledon final since Rafael Nadal (aged 22 years 33 days) in 2008. [NB. Grigor Dimitrov would become the youngest man to achieve the feat if he defeats Novak Djokovic in the other semifinal.]
Raonic is looking to reach the final on his 4th Wimbledon appearance. Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Lleyton Hewitt, Ilie Nastase, Andy Roddick and Stan Smith all reached their first Wimbledon final in their 4th appearance here.
Raonic is bidding to become the first non-European male finalist at Wimbledon since Andy Roddick in 2009. The last non-European man to reach a Grand Slam final is Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open.
(ITF)
FRIDAY WIMBLEDON MEN’S SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE
CENTRE COURT – 1:00PM
1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] v Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [11]
2. Roger Federer (SUI) [4] v Milos Raonic (CAN) [8]
BET ON SPORTS ODDS
Novak Djokovic 1.24 v Grigor Dimitrov 4.25
Roger Federer 1.35 v Miloas Raonic 3.25
WEATHERUNDERGROUND WIMLBLEDON FORECAST
Plenty of sunshine. High 79F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.
U.S. TELEVISION SCHEDULE
ESPN has live coverage starting at 8am Friday morning. ESPN3.com will offer live streaming.
POLL
You Might Like:
Fedal Wars: Federer Admits Nadal Could Catch His Grand Slam Total “Quickly”
2019 Wimbledon Men’s Final Open Thread: Novak Djokovic v Roger Federer
French Open Men’s Seedings: Rafael Nadal Top Seed For A Third Time
Who’s The Greatest Man To Have Never Won A Grand Slam?
May Off-Topic Thread