Novak Djokovic (1) 1.44 v Roger Federer (3) 3.25 13:00 Centre Court
H-to-H 12-14
This really ought to be the Wimbledon final, it's the reigning champion and world No.1 against the six-time winner and arguably the greatest player of all time... don't miss it.
These two have met 26 times and their head to head record shows Federer with a slight advantage, but recently it's Djokovic who has been on top. Not only has the Serb won six of their last seven encounters, but he has also won four of their last five Grand Slam matches and he hasn't even given Federer a set in their two previous meetings this year. The form points towards a Djokovic win but it's unlikely to bother Federer. The Swiss maestro has supreme confidence in his grass court game and although he certainly had a scare in the third round when he had to come back from two sets down against Benneteau, since then he has looked majestic, in the quarter final on Wednesday he seemed to hit top form when demolishing Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets.
Novak has been relatively untroubled on his route to the semi-final, hardly pushed by any opponent so far and it's hard to tell if this will help or hamper him prepare for his first ever match against Federer on grass. He may take a set to wake up and in which case he will no doubt be punished, but expect the Serb to grow into the match and gain strength as the encounter progresses, four sets with Djokovic booking his place in a fifth consecutive Grand Slam Final looks a strong possibility. Whatever the outcome we are in for a treat...
Selection: Djokovic
Andy Murray (4) 1.45 v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (5) 3.15 15:30 Centre Court
H-to-H 5-1
Is this Murray's year or is it Tim Henman 2001 all over again? In 2001 Roger Federer had removed Pete Sampras from Henman's side of the draw. Henman beat Federer leaving him with an easy semi-final against wild card Ivanisevic. Well that's what we thought and we know what happened - Henman blew his best ever chance.
Murray's nemesis Nadal has been removed, but his task is much harder than Henman's in that he has to face the number five seed Tsonga. Murray has beaten Tsonga twice on grass at Queens in 2011 and Wimbledon in 2010 at the quarter-final stage. Last year Tsonga reached the semi-final where he was beaten by Djokovic who also beat him in his only Grand Slam final in Australia in 2008. Like Murray Tsonga should have won a major by now and probably would have done without the top three.
In many ways Murray and Tsonga are very similar and it's the lack of belief that prevents both of them crossing that final frontier. Tsonga should have beaten Djokovic in Paris this year, but choked. As in boxing where they say styles makes fights, this has the makings of a classic, a puncher against a counter-puncher. Tsonga is the aggressor, bigger serve, more attacks on the net against the arch defender with constant backhand slices, searching for the opening and the mistake.
Both have had similar results at Wimbledon this year, dropping a set in three out of their five matches and at times not looking totally convincing. Tsonga's high octane game leads to mistakes, but he is the exciting player, the one that will make things happen and the one built for grass. The weight of expectation from the whole country may weigh against Murray's home advantage and we expect a fully confidnet Tsonga to reach his second Grand Slam final and cast a whole nation into mourning yet again.
Selection: Tsonga
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