This first of two 2012 Wimbledon semifinal matches has been set. Roger Federer will face world #1 Novak Djokovic.
2012 Wimbledon Federer vs. Youzhny quarterfinal
I thought for the Russian would make Roger work a little more, though their match turned to be more of a glorified practice session. Their match only lasted a mere 1:32; I thought for sure there would be at least a 2.5 hour match. In any event, Federer looked really strong out on Centre Court. The Swiss looked extremely confident and comfortable playing. His serve was on and his returns were sharp.
At no point did I feel that Roger Federer’s serve was being threatened, Youzhny never got into the Swiss serve, only winning 12% of service points. Youzhny had to work really hard just to get the few games he did.
I hate to use the term “Vintage Federer,” though what I saw on the TV this morning reminded me of the tennis that Federer played in 2004 -2009. What he displayed today was pure effortless tennis, the kind of tennis where he will easily and quickly recovery and be ready for his next match. I didn’t see any obvious signs of the back causing Roger pain, so it does seem that has gotten better.
2012 Wimbledon quarterfinal Djokovic vs. Mayer
The second 2012 Wimbledon quarterfinal of the day, Djokovic played pretty good, even though his opponent gave him a little more of challenge than that of Federer’s match today.
I didn’t see any real struggle for Novak, though being broken early in the first set had a me slightly concerned. Djokovic quickly got his mojo back and found himself, remembered he is #1 in the world, took charge and never looked back. Mayer did his best, though against such a strong player like Novak, it’s a David vs. Goliath tennis match.
2012 Wimbledon Federer vs. Djokovic semifinal prediction
This is a really hard match to predict. World #1 versus former #1, defending champion against six time champion, and friend against friend. What a dilemma! What is a tennis fan to do? Well, this first 2012 Wimbledon semifinal match is bound to go one of two ways: 1. Epic and history books quality or 2. Completely one-sided and quick. I’m not really sure where I stand quite yet.
Let’s look at the match history between the two, Roger and Novak have played each other 26 times, with Federer edging Djokovic 14 to 12. Surprisingly, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have never met on grass. That boggles my mind, of all the times they’ve met, they have only played on hard court and clay court.
Roger Federer has a better match record on grass, the Swiss has won 11 titles and 105 matches on the green stuff. Where Djokovic has only 1 title (2011 Wimbledon) and 38 match wins on grass. All this information is over the span of their careers. The Djokovic we have seen for the last year and a half is completely different, Nole has been dominating nearly every tournament he’s been in. On the other hand, Federer has not had as a successful year as the Serb, though the 4 titles Fed has won have been no easy task.
On the grass, I do believe that Roger Federer is the stronger player, he plays a more seamless game, it’s effortless. Djokovic, no matter how good he is, can struggle at times with his game. I favor Roger’s game though Djokovic is known for pulling out some pivotal points against Federer – remember both 2010 and 2011 US Open semifinals? Nole down two match points, rips the return for the winner and turns both matches around to reach the finals. Yeah, that’s what Djokovic can do.
If I have to pick a 2012 Wimbledon finalist between Roger and Novak, I would put my money on Federer. He’s a better player on the grass. He has been playing some solid matches at 2012 Wimbledon so far, the big question is can he do the same in his semifinal match? What do you think? Does Roger have the edge?