Roger Federer races past Mikhail Youzhny into the semi-finals – Wimbledon Championships 2012
Six-time former champion, Roger Federer, advanced to his 32nd Grand Slam semi-final, after bulldozing Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-finals at the Wimbledon championships on Wednesday.
The Swiss Maestro dropped just five games in the entire match and took only an hour and 32 minutes to beat Youzhny in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
This is the same place where Federer reached last-four stage at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, when he defeated USA’s Andy Roddick in straight sets 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-3 and went on to win his maiden Major crown.
Federer did not allow Youzhny to settle down in the match, pocketing first three games to attain a 3-0 lead. Youzhny reduced the deficit to 1-3 by holding his serve in the fourth but lost the following three games again to go down
1-6.
The Swiss Maestro struck in the opening game of the second set and won his next serve to move ahead 2-0. The 16-time Grand Slam champion grabbed his second breakthrough in the seventh one and consolidated on it to triumph 6-2.
The start of third set was exactly the same as the previous one, with Federer hitting a blow in the first game and holding his subsequent serve to grab a 2-0 advantage. The Swiss legend broke Youzhny again in the fifth and capitalised
on the double strike to close it 6-2.
Federer fired a couple of aces and won 36 of the 41 points on his first serves in the match. The Swiss star rushed at the net 34 times and grabbed points on 24 of those occasions. The 30-year-old put away both breaks threats he
came across and availed six of the 20 chances he created.
Commenting on the match, Federer said, “I have a good match-up, I guess, with Youzhny, for some reason, because he is a good player and makes it hard normally for players. Today things worked out great for me, so I'm very happy.
It was nice to play with the roof open. It was a great match for me. I played aggressive and served well again. I'm really pleased with my performance today.”
Federer will lock horns with the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, in the semis.
Talking about his match against Djokovic, he said, “It is interesting that this is our first grass court match. I'm looking forward to it. It's been a good tournament so far for me. I'm happy [that] I'm feeling good again.”
The Swiss Maestro leads his Serbian rival 14-12 in the head to head record.
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