Results tagged “Roger Federer” from NBC Sports - Home

We've still got a couple hours before the first men's semifinal, but it's looking like we could have some tennis under the roof today. After an improbable run where 10 of 11 days were bright sunshine and hot temperatures, it finally feels like we're at Wimbledon. Rained overnight, now it's overcast with the chance of more showers.

In the past, this would be awful news, for both the people wanting to see tennis, and for us, who dread the thought of extending the production into Monday. But now we're guaranteed two semis, and the possibility of the roof and the lights to give it feel like a night match would only add to the inevitable buzz in the crowd today.

Roger Federer and Tommy Haas go at it in the opener. Haas played Feds tough at the French Open and he broke Novak Djokovic's will in the quarters (which isn't tough to do, but still). Knocking off Federer might be out of the question, but it's not out of the question that he could make him sweat a bit. That's good for everyone because then we get to see Federer pull out ungodly shots and show some fire.

But the main event is the battle of the guys who still haven't ditched the 4th grade pet name, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray. Besides his coach, Brooklyn Decker, and a couple of American tourists, everyone on the grounds will be rooting for Murray. Now these are tennis fans so they won't necessarily be rooting against and taunting Roddick. It's just blatantly clear who they'll be pulling for. A few of us here still think it's a bit odd that Murray is treated like hometown royalty even though he's Scottish, but the crowd adds to the drama so no real reason to complain.

Check back for more updates later on. Enjoy your Manny Returns Day.

-Matt Casey

Sorry, Jack Bauer. But we're through. Been that way for a couple years, ever since you started developing feelings and love interests instead of just killing bad people. It was nice of you to fill the void when Mike Piazza left, but there's someone else now. Roger Federer is the only one.

Ask anyone in the edit room - my obsession with Federer shot-making naughtiness borders the line between appreciative and unhealthy. It's customary to yell out a Sopranos-style "Oh!" after every amazing shot. And at Wimbledon, that happens a ton. Like a couple minutes ago when, on two consecutive points, he hit backhand and forehand return winners to break Ivo Karlovic on his way to taking the first set 6-3.

We'll be keeping an Oh! tracker throughout his match.

UPDATE - 2:03: So far, an extremely dull match. After Federer got his break, he seems to be cruising and letting Karlovich get his points on serve (Ivo hits absolute bombs). It's also been way too easy for Federer on his serve as well (There's not much else to Ivo's game). Looking like we're headed for a tiebreak in the 2nd set.

UPDATE - 2:09: OH! OH! OH! OH! Federer just ripped off four straight points on Karlovic's serve to break and go up 6-5. One of them was a return winner. That outburst came out of nowhere. And Karlovic really showed he has no other shots in his arsenal. Feds up 2 sets. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic is down 1 set to Tommy Haas.

UPDATE - 2:14: Karlovic has ditched the shades. That must've been the problem.

UPDATE - 2:24: OH! Federer with a great forehand winner down the line to stay on serve at 2-2 in the 3rd. One of the few chances he's had a chance to hit a winner because Karlovic keeps making errors.

UPDATE - 2:32: Shocking, but Karlovic just took Federer to deuce.

UPDATE - 2:32: And Feds ripped off 2 points in about 16 seconds to take the game.

UPDATE - 2:45: Karlovic just held serve at 6-5, so now we're very confident a tiebreak is coming.

UPDATE - 2:50: Mini-break for Feds. This one should be over shortly.

UPDATE - 2:52: OH! Up 5-2 in the tiebreak, Feds rips a backhand by Karlovic that clips the baseline. Match point now.

UPDATE - 2:54: OH! Convinced that Feds dropped in a get-me-over serve, just so Karlovic could hit a weak return and set him up for his signature corsscourt forehand. Game, set, match. On to the semis, where it could be Haas, who's up 2 sets on Djokovic.

-Matt Casey