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Roger Federer said bringing up a century of Wimbledon victories was \u201cspecial\u201d as he booked a tantalizing semi-final with Rafael Nadal.<\/p>\nRoger Federer said bringing up a century of Wimbledon victories was \u201cspecial\u201d as he booked a tantalizing semi-final with Rafael Nadal.<\/p>\n
The 37-year-old shook off a nervy start to beat Kei Nishikori 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-final on Center Court.<\/p>\n
He is the first man to reach 100 wins at the All England Club and is in his 13th semi-final.<\/p>\n
Federer is chasing a ninth Wimbledon title, but if he is going to do that he will more than likely have to beat Nadal and then Novak Djokovic.<\/p>\n
The last-four meeting with Nadal will be the 40th installment of one of tennis\u2019 great rivalries and their first here since the epic 2008 final.<\/p>\n
Federer won his first match at SW19 as a 19-year-old in 2001, beating Belgian Christophe Rochus, and never expected to bring his ton up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s special,\u201d he admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of years I\u2019ve been coming here, you know. That\u2019s given me the opportunity to win a lot naturally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice, because if I look back at the 100 that have happened, some were so incredibly cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday again was a big match going into the semis, facing Rafa. A hundred wins here at Wimbledon. Who would have thought? I didn\u2019t, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
A lot has changed since Federer and Nadal produced one of the most memorable finals of Wimbledon\u2019s history and the Swiss is looking forward to renewing the rivalry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has improved so much over the years on this surface,\u201d Federer said. \u201cHe\u2019s playing also very different than he used to.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t played each other in a long, long time on this surface. He\u2019s serving way different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember back in the day how he used to serve, and now how much bigger he\u2019s serving, how much faster he finishes points.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s impressive to see how sort of healthy he\u2019s stayed. A lot of them are saying, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s the end\u2019, by 2008. Similar to me in 2009. We\u2019re still here. So it\u2019s nice to play each other again.\u201d<\/p>\n
A possible upset had looked on the cards after Nishikori came out firing and took the first set, but while being one of the most consistent players in the men\u2019s game he is still having problems cracking the top three at the biggest events.<\/p>\n
This was the fifth successive grand slam that he has lost to either Federer, Nadal or Djokovic and he was unable to cope with the former after going in front.<\/p>\n