Federer vs Raonic: Where the battle will be won and lost
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Federer has beaten Raonic nine times in 11 meetings and will try to make it double digits in the Wimbledon semifinals on Friday.
Roger Federer, at age 34, could become the oldest player to ever win at Wimbledon, if he still has two top-tier victories left in the tank. Federer, the third seed, enters Friday"s semifinals with 17 Grand Slam titles, the most of any male player.
He also has seven titles at Wimbledon, and another victory would make him the winningest player in the tournament"s history, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras. Federer is without a doubt one of the greatest tennis players ever, but while he has been able to keep his ranking up lately, he has been unable to notch another Grand Slam win for some time.
The last time he took a Grand Slam win came at Wimbledon in 2012, which was impressive in its own right given he first reached a career No. 1 ranking back in 2004 and turned pro in 1998. He"s had a long career, but there are no easy matches for him from here on out, and it"s only going to get tougher.
On Friday, the challenge comes in the form of Canadian Milos Raonic. He"s on the other end of the spectrum, at 25 years old and still searching for his first Grand Slam singles title. If he gets it, he"d be the first Canadian man to accomplish such a feat, and it would be a load off his shoulders after making two other semifinals in the past.
Most recently, Raonic fell in the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2016. But he"s young, strong and will certainly play many years after Federer eventually retires.
Raonic has the unfortunate honor of having faced Federer 11 times already, and he"s only come out of those meetings with two wins. The most recent matchup was on the hard courts of Brisbane earlier this year, with Raonic coming out on top. They have played at Wimbledon once before, also in the semifinals, a match that Federer won. Their other grass court match, in 2012, was also won by Federer.
Federer was pushed to five sets against Marin Cilic, the first time he"d been pushed that far in nearly two years, in the quarterfinals. But Federer came out on top, and while he should be plenty tired at this stage of the tournament, he professed his excitement at the fact that he came out the other end of such a grueling match.
"What I like about being in a fifth set is you actually get really rested to see where is your fitness, where is your mind at," Federer said after his match against Cilic. "Can your shoulder, your back, your legs -- can they sustain 3 hours, 17 [minutes] of just hitting big serves, running, being explosive?"
Federer"s body certainly handled it, and nine times before he"s handled the challenge brought upon by Raonic.
Federer and Raonic will have the first semifinal match of the day from Centre Court, beginning at 8 a.m. ET. The match will be broadcast at ESPN at that time and a live stream will be available via WatchESPN. The other semifinal match, featuring Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, will be on the same court immediately afterward.
Coverage for Friday"s matches at WimbledonEvents: Men"s semifinalsLocation: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London, UKTime: 8:00 a.m. ETTV: ESPNStreaming: WatchESPN
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Source: http://www.sbnation.com/tennis/2016/7/8/12124124/2016-wimbledon-championships-roger-federer-milos-raonic-time-tv-schedule-watch-live-online
