Wimbledon men’s semifinal: Roger Federer vs. Tommy Haas
When Tommy Haas upset world No. 4 Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semifinals, that seemed like a break for Roger Federer, who is 9-2 all-time against Haas (3-0 on grass), the oldest player left in the Wimbledon draw at age 31.
Plus Federer is 19-3 in Grand Slam semifinals, and Haas is 0-3. But Haas nearly beat Federer in the fourth round of the French Open, with the German taking the first two sets and five points from victory until Federer rallied.
“I stayed calm and I knew that if the match was going to swing around that it was going to be really difficult for him. It’s exactly what happened,” Federer said. “But new match, new tournament. We’ll see what happens.”
Still, the Swiss star has opened as a massive -1350 favorite on WagerWeb.com for Friday’s semifinal match. He is in his 21st consecutive Grand Slam final, which is absurd.
“I’m glad it’s Haas and not Djokovic – he’s from my generation!” said Federer. “It’s no surprise to see him here. He played great in Paris and he will be even tougher here as he prefers grass and hard courts to clay. I’ve trained with him a lot recently and we often go out to get something to eat together. It’s great when someone comes back from injury and gets the results.”
Haas, who was once ranked as high as second in the world, is playing his best tennis in years. He saved two match points against Marin Cilic in the third round and beat Djokovic in four sets on Wednesday; the second time he has beaten Djokovic in less than a month. This is first time past the fourth round in 10 tries at Wimbledon for Haas. He is the fourth German to reach the semis in the Open era. Originally unseeded, Haas was elevated to 24 when Gael Monfils withdr
“I always felt deep down that Wimbledon will maybe still have something left for me. It had better come soon because I’m not getting any younger,” he said.
Federer, meanwhile, had no trouble with big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the quarters. He of course is the five-time champion of this tournament and looking to break Pete Sampras’ Grand Slam record of titles with No. 15.
“We’ve had a good battle at the French but I’m obviously realistic of who my opponent is,”Haas said. “He is somebody that’s probably going to go down as the greatest player ever.”
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