Sport | Tennis
Federer in 7th straight Wimbledon final
Federer sets up chance to win 15th Grand Slam after dismantling Haas.
- AP
- Published: 18:22 July 3, 2009
- Roger Federer of Switzerland plays a return to Tommy Haas of Germany during their semifinal match on centre court at Wimbledon on Friday.
- Image Credit: AP
Wimbledon: Five-time champion Roger Federer delivered a masterful grass-court performance on Friday to beat Tommy Haas in straight sets and reach his seventh straight Wimbledon final, putting him within one win of a record 15th Grand Slam title.
Seeming to get stronger with every match, Federer put on a serving clinic and took advantage of his break point chances to subdue the 31-year-old German 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-3 in just over two hours.
Federer never faced a break point as he beat Haas for the ninth straight time to reach his record 20th Grand Slam final, pulling out of a tie with Ivan Lendl.
"I'm very happy with my performance and it's unbelievable to back into another Wimbledon final," Federer said. "I've had a lot of pressure over all the years, so this is just another great match, great opportunity for me to get into the history books."
Federer is the first man to make it to seven consecutive Wimbledon finals in the history of a tournament that began in 1877.
Federer, who will meet the winner of the second semifinal between Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, has won 18 straight matches as he closes in on his 15th major title. He is currently tied with Pete Sampras with 14.
If Federer wins tomorrow, he will be the third player to win six or more Wimbledon titles. William Renshaw and Sampras both won seven.
"It's not the only reason why I'm playing tennis, because mostly because I love it and I enjoy playing tennis, but sure going for something that big this coming Sunday, it's quite extraordinary," Federer said.
Federer said he would be happy if Sampras came to Wimbledon to watch him try to break his record. Sampras is currently at home in California looking after his two young sons.
"He might come around, he might not," Federer said. "It's his choice. I'd love to see him because he's a good friend of mine. Very honoured of course that I share the record of 14 with him."
The 34th-ranked Haas, winner of a Wimbledon grass-court tune-up in Halle, Germany, served superbly and held his own against Federer but couldn't break through. Federer, as cool and calm as ever, made it look effortless. He seemed to bide his time, winning all his service games easily and just waiting for the moment to break.
Federer, who had 11 aces, was never even taken to deuce on serve and won 22 out of 24 points on serve in one stretch. He won 89 per cent of the points on his first serve and 81 per cent on second.
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