Preview: Wimbledon men’s semi-finals

Andy Murray

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Order of play, Friday July 3
Centre Court, 1pm start
Roger Federer (SWI) V Tommy Haas (GER)
Andy Murray (GBR) V Andy Roddick (USA)

Betting
Federer 1-12 / Haas 8-1
Murray 1-4 / Roddick 3-1

Federer V Haas

Five-time champion Roger Federer and surprise semi-finalist Tommy Haas go head to head in the bottom half of the draw on Friday. Only a madman would bet against 14-time Grand Slam champion Federer reaching his seventh Wimbledon final when he takes on the 31-year-old German who is in the twilight of his career. This is a battle between two men at the top of their game and brimming with confidence. Federer is on a winning streak of 17 matches after claiming the Madrid and Roland Garros titles coming into Wimbledon, while 24th-seeded Haas has bagged ten victories on the trot after winning in Halle before arriving in SW19. Haas won two out of their first three meetings, but since then the mighty Fed has prevailed eight times, including a narrow victory in the fourth round of this year’s French Open. Haas came agonisingly close to upsetting the Swiss when he held break point at two sets to love and 4-3, but couldn’t scramble over the finish line. One would assume that if he couldn’t do the job on clay – Federer’s least favourite surface – he has little chance on the world No.2’s favourite court in the world.

Murray V Roddick

There’s a lot riding on this one for both men. For third seed Andy Murray he is carrying the weight of Great Britain’s expectations as he bids to become the first Briton to reach the men’s singles final at Wimbledon since Bunny Austin in 1938. It’s a big day for Andy Roddick too. He admitted himself that he hasn’t threatened at a Slam for a while – it’s three years since he reached the final of a major. Given he turns 27 in August, the Texas-based world No.6 needs to start making the most of these rare opportunities at the biggest tournaments in the world if he is to add to his Grand Slam tally of one – the 2003 US Open. These two have met eight times with Murray going into Friday’s clash with a 6-2 lead having won the last two matches they completed, including a straight-sets victory on hard courts in Doha in January.

Coaching editor Dave Sammel says

Roger had a massive scare against Haas in the French. Haas has played brilliantly all summer, having changed to a softer compound racket (Dunlop to Head) which seems to have added more control to his power. However, this is where his run will end as he will come up short. I do expect this to be tough and entertaining, however. Murray’s game stacks up perfectly against Roddick since his ability to return negates the American’s great serve. Once they are in a baseline rally there is only one winner. This can easily be a straight-sets victory for Murray. I expect a Federer-Murray final and I can’t wait.

Fans' Comments

Add your own remarks below

june whitney Jul 3, 10:49 AM

My view is that the I won’t be watching the womens final because it is so, so boring to see the williams sisters yet again. If only Dementieva had won!

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