Roger Federer brought up a century of Wimbledon victories as he beat Kei Nishikori on his way to another semi-final appearance.
The 37-year-old, who won his first match at SW19 as a 19-year-old in 2001, shook off a nervy start to beat the eighth seed 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-final on Centre Court.
He is the first man to reach 100 wins at the All England Club and is in his 13th semi-final.
Record-setter. Again.@rogerfederer makes it a century at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/a3vO7gy9zS — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2019
Federer is chasing a ninth Wimbledon title, but if he is going to do that he will more than likely have to beat both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
A possible blockbusting semi-final awaits against Nadal in what will be the 40th instalment of one of tennis' great rivalries and their first here since the epic 2008 final.
An 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's game he is still having problems cracking the top three at the biggest events.
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 Swiss after going in front.
Unlucky for some, but lucky for others 🍀@rogerfederer reaches his 13th #Wimbledon semi-final... pic.twitter.com/EtdlaFReIr — Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2019
On the eve of the match Federer had said that Nishikori had the best backhand in the game and it did not take long for him to witness it up close as the Japanese fizzed two winners that helped him break in the opening game.
Federer found himself fire-fighting in his next two service games as he held from 0-40 and then 30-40, with Nishikori cashing in on some wayward hitting.
He was forced to serve the first set out, though, which he did courtesy of a scorching forehand, meaning Federer dropped a set for just the second time this tournament.
As subdued as the eight-time champion was in that opening set, there was an air of inevitability about what happened next as he finally came to the party.
He sandwiched two comfortable holds, with a break to love that included an eye-catching forehand winner, to ease into a 3-0 lead.
It was as if the first set had not happened as Nishikori could not cope with Federer's accuracy and depth and a second break allowed the number two seed to serve it out in just 23 minutes.
The opening game of the next set took 13 minutes as Nishikori came under fire, but he held firm, trying to re-establish himself in the match.
But Federer made another move at 3-3 and sealed a decisive break with a forehand that painted the baseline.
He endured a nervy moment when trying to serve the set out as Nishikori forced a break-back point, but he came up with a solid hold.
The writing was on the wall for Nishikori as he had to save break points at 0-0, 1-1 and 2-2 in the fourth set and there was no way he could escape much longer.
Federer eventually got the breakthrough to go 5-4 up and he saw out victory with ease.
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