Federer tops Nadal to reach his 12th Wimbledon final
WIMBLEDON, England —Roger Federer will play for a record-extending ninth Wimbledon title in his 12 final at the All England Club after beating Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court.
The 20-time Grand Slam singles champion will face Novak Djokovic for the title on Sunday.
Federer’s serve served him well against his Spanish rival, who won their last meeting at Wimbledon in the 2008 final — taking the epic fifth set 9-7 as darkness descended. The Swiss great finished with 14 aces this time and landed 69% of his first serves.
Federer won his record eighth Wimbledon title in 2017, but lost to Djokovic in the final in both 2014 and 2015.
Federer has won a record eight Wimbledon titles. Nadal has two, and beat Federer in the 2008 final.
Earlier, Shintaro Mochizuki became the first Japanese player to reach a junior boys’ Grand Slam singles final after outlasting fourth-seeded American Martin Damm 6-1, 0-6, 10-8.
The eighth-seeded Mochizuki will play Carlos Gimeno Valero of Spain, who beat Harold Mayot of France 7-6 (5), 6-4. Gimeno Valero will also be playing his first Grand Slam final.
In the junior girls’ final, Alexa Noel of the United States will face Daria Snigur of Ukraine.
Noel beat Diane Parry of France 6-2, 6-1, and Snigur defeated American Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-0.
6th final for Djokovic
Novak Djokovic has reached the Wimbledon final for the sixth time.
The defending champion came through a tough match against Roberto Bautista Agut on Centre Court 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Djokovic was broken once in the second set, allowing Bautista Agut to even the score. But the top-seeded Serb saved two break chances in the third set and won easily in the fourth, though he needed five match points in the final game to close it out.
With the victory, Djokovic has reached his 25th Grand Slam final. He won 15 of the previous 24.
In the Wimbledon final, Djokovic is 4-1. His only loss was against Andy Murray in 2013.
The semifinal between Djokovic and Bautista Agut was briefly interrupted after a fan became ill on Centre Court.
Play was halted with Bautista Agut leading 3-1 in the second set as a member of the crowd received treatment. The match resumed minutes later.
