Federer and Murray win; Gasquet downs Wawrinka in men's quarters

Wimbledon 2015: Roger Federer defeats Gilles Simon, Andy Murray defeats Vasek Pospisil.

Author:
Courtney Nguyen
Publish date:
Jul 8, 2015

LONDON – Catch up on the news and results from the men's quarterfinals matches at Wimbledon 2015 at the All England Club.

Andy Murray and Roger Federer will face off in the semifinals: Federer was the first man into the locker room after racing through a 6–3, 7–5, 6–2 win over No. 12 Gilles Simon to make his 10th Wimbledon semifinal. In fact, the only thing slowing Federer down were the rain delays, which interrupted his match twice. His streak of 116 consecutive service holds was finally broken in the second set but Federer wasted no time taking care of a sub-par Simon, hitting 36 winners to 22 unforced errors and hitting 11 aces for the match. Simon couldn't clean up his game—he hit 15 winners to 21 unforced errors—and Federer notched the win in one hour and 35 minutes.

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He'll face Murray in Friday's semifinals. Murray defeated Vasek Pospisil under the Centre Court roof 6–4, 7–5, 6–4 to advance to his third straight Slam semifinal and sixth Wimbledon semifinal. Murray managed the rain interruptions and roof closure well and withstood a steady charge from the unseeded Canadian, hitting 23 winners to 13 unforced errors to Pospisil's 34 winners and 23 unforced errors.

Friday's semifinal will mark the first time Murray and Federer have faced off at Wimbledon since the 2012 Wimbledon final, which Federer won, and the 2012 Olympic final, which Murray won.

Richard Gasquet stuns Stan Wawrinka to return to the Wimbledon semifinals: The Prodigious Son returns. No. 21 Richard Gasquet has been on the end of more heart-breaking five set losses than any other active player. So when he failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth set against No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, there were two ways of looking at it. Either Gasquet was due for a win or Gasquet was...Gasquet. Instead of playing like a man with everything to lose, Gasquet rebounded to play his gutsiest tennis of the tournament, hanging with Wawrinka until the French Open champion blinked to go down 0-40 on his serve at 9-10. With three match points in hand, Gasquet converted on the third to book a spot in his third Slam semifinal and first at Wimbledon since 2007.

Going into the match, Gasquet had lost 15 of his last 16 matches against Top 10 opponents and lost his last match against Wawrinka, another epic five-setter at a major, losing 8-6 in the fifth at the 2013 French Open. Against a barrage of power from Wawrinka—the Swiss finished with 73 winners, including 22 aces—Gasquet responded with the tactical genius that anointed him France's great hope for a Slam champion when he was just nine years old. He kept Wawrinka off-balance as he skillfully used the serve-and-volley to get out of jams and used the angles to get Wawrinka out of position.

Still, Wawrinka, full of confidence and gunning for his first Wimbledon semifinal, looked poised to take the match. After breaking Gasquet at 3-5 in the final set, Wawrinka was just two points from a key break after Gasquet fell behind at 5-5, 0-30, but the Frenchman responded perfectly, winning the next four points with flawless play. Wawrinka would have him on the ropes again a few games later, as Gasquet faced break point at 9-9, but Gasquet saved it with a 122 mph serve out wide and held.

Gasquet's reward after that three hour and 28 minute battle? No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Friday. The top seed had no problems with U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, winning 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 in less than two hours.