The Grand Slam tennis tournament which is taking place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom has finally reached to its semi-final round. The 2019 Wimbledon Championships main tournament was started from 1 July 2019 and is going to conclude on Sunday 14 July 2019.
Roger Federer, as well as Rafael Nadal, are going to meet at Wimbledon for the first time ever since the year 2008 finale as both are advanced to the semi-finals.
Eleven years since Rafael Nadal’s win against Roger Federer at Wimbledon in what is broadly recognized to be the ultimate match in the history, the pair is going to begin again the rivalries after the Spaniard swept aside Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals.
Federer defeated Kei Nishikori 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4 at the All England Club for his 100th match win, while Nadal, on the other hand, defeated Sam Querrey by 7-5 6-2 6-2.
In the year 2008, Nadal won 9-7 in the fifth set in a rain-affected final against Federer that extends over almost seven hours.
And together, they both have won 10 Wimbledon titles between them.
Novak Djokovic, who is already four-time Wimbledon champion is going to face Roberto Bautisa Agut in Friday’s other semi-final.
Rafael Nadal, after making his way to semi-finals said, “First of all, it’s a great feeling to be back in that semi-finals,”. He added “I’m very happy the way we managed to be in that round. Now [to] play against Roger always is a unique situation. I’m excited to be back on this court against him after 11 years. It means a lot for me and probably for him, too.”
He further said, “I’m excited about this match, excited about this opportunity to be again in that round against him. Always I say the same: of course, the opportunities to play against each other every time are less, but we are still here. After tomorrow we going to have another chance. I just expect to play against probably the best player of the history in this surface and know I have to play my best if I want to have chances to be in that final. That’s all. I know he’s playing well. He feels comfortable here. And me, too. I’m playing well, too.”
It is also remarkable as for the first time for 12 years that Djokovic, Nadal as well as Federer have all made to the last four.
Eight-time champion, Roger Federer, also said, “We have a lot of information on Rafa, as does he on us,”
He also said, “So you can dive into the tactics like mad for two days, or you say ‘it’s grass court tennis so I’m going to come out and play my tennis’.
He further added his statement by saying, “People always hype it up. It was a joy to play against Rafa on his court at the French Open and [I’m] very excited to play him here.”
Spaniard Nadal said: “It’s great. It’s difficult to imagine again being in that situation. I’m excited to play against Roger again here at Wimbledon.”
