This was always Roger Federer’s best shot at winning his 18th Major.
Wimbledon.
The green lawns of The All-England Club, where Federer is now poised to win an eighth crown after dispatching the Canadian Missile Milos Raonic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, thanks to one break in each set in the semifinals.
After taking advantage of a draw that broke his way — no Rafael Nadal in the semis — Federer now must earn it against top seed Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final.
A win in that match would extend Federer’s lead over Nadal to 18-14 in career Majors, and give him some breathing room while Nadal continues to chalk up French Opens every year.
“It’s always great,” the 32-year-old Federer told the BBC of playing Djokovic for a fourth time this year. “We always play good matches against each other. We’ve played a lot actually recently in the last six months. It’s gone back and forth a bit. Novak anyway, he’s a great champion. He’s been around now for a long time so he’s used to these occasions as well and he’s already got the trophy here in the past so he knows how to get it done. So I hope it’s going to be a good match really.”
Like Federer, Djokovic — winner of six career Grand Slam titles — took care of a 23-year-old member of the oncoming new guard, dispatching Grigor “Baby Fed” Dimitrov in four tough sets, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(7).
Federer is 18-16 against Djokovic, compared with the 10-23 record he has against Nadal, who he could’ve played in the semifinals had the 19-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios not shocked the Spaniard in the fourth round.
Federer has won two of three meetings in 2014 against Djokovic, with one win on hardcourts and one on clay.
In their only previous meeting on grass, Federer dispatched Djokovic in the 2012 semifinals in four sets, before taking out Andy Murray for his 17th career Major.
Since that 2012 Wimbledon, the skeptics have wondered whether Federer could ever win Major No. 18.
The doubts ran especially high a year ago when Federer was excused in the second round by Sergiy Stakhovsky.
But armed with a new racket, a new coach (two-time Wimbledon champ Stefan Edberg), a healthy back and a serve-and-volley mentality, everything has gone Federer’s way this year.
So far.
Federer could have played the Frenchman Julian Benneteau — who has given the Swiss trouble in this tournament — in the second round but Benneteau was taken out by Gilles Muller.
In the Round of 16, Federer could have played the big-serving Jerzy Janowicz but he was taken out by Tommy Robredo in the third round.
Instead of having to potentially face Nadal in the semis and then maybe Djokovic in the final, Federer will only have to beat one of them to win Major No. 18.
“The stars for him seem to be aligned,” Patrick McEnroe said on ESPN.
Now Federer must take the next step and beat another member of the Big Four to win career Major No. 18.
“[It would mean] a lot, I must say,” Federer said. “I’m unbelievably proud every time I walk the grounds here and keep on playing this tournament. I know I don’t have 10 left so I’ll try to enjoy it as much as I can.
“And clearly the first one was unbelievably special in 2003. It was just a dream come true. Then I was able to play so successful for so many years at Wimbledon has been an unbelievable thrill and that I get another chance to go through these kind of emotions is great.”
Photo: ATP
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