Wimbledon 2019: Federer overpowers Nadal in four-setter, sets up Djokovic final

Roger Federer put on a display worthy of his rich grass-court history to beat Rafael Nadal 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and enter his 12th Wimbledon final.

Roger Federer secured his place in the final with a four-set win over Rafael Nadal in three hours and two minutes.

It didn’t quite reach the levels it had eleven summers ago here on Centre Court, but Roger Federer put on a display worthy of his rich grass-court history to beat Rafael Nadal 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and enter his 12th Wimbledon final. In Sunday’s title-clash he will encounter World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s wiry, elastic genius which weathered a tough challenge from Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The first set though lived up to the hype, as both players fought each other to a standstill. Federer, true to his word, attacked from the word go in order to hustle Nadal. The Spaniard found himself a breakpoint down at 3-4, but found a way by pounding Federer's backhand side. 

In turn, he pressured the Federer serve at 4-4, but the latter drilled an ace at 30-30 and held on. Inevitably, the set slipped into a tie-break where Federer made the play by reeling off five straight points from 2-3 and finished with a forehand winner.

As it happened

Early in the second set, following a few nervous holds from both players, Nadal broke Federer to love to go 3-1 up. The Swiss’ serve broke down completely and a game as so tightly wound as his is to the serve, it collapsed with Nadal taking the set 6-1.

But Federer regained his mojo in the third, able to summon the serve which had earlier given up on him. He broke to 3-1, following up a great backhand winner with a forehand crosscourt before winning a net exchange. Nadal nearly broke back immediately, but Federer held on, even finishing on the right side of 25-shot rally to ward off a break point.

Federer's two subsequent holds were first-rate, for a combined loss of just one point. Nadal's tactic of attacking Federer's backhand came undone, as Federer, with a larger racquet head, not just sliced but even drove many powerfully. Overall, he hit 15 winners to just two unforced errors in that set.

The eight-time champion broke in the third game and maintained it. With Nadal serving at 3-5, Federer even had two match points, both of which the 12-time French Open champion saved with service winners. A nervous hold ensued with Nadal saving two match point. But Federer wouldn’t be denied the victory.