Wimbledon - Imperious Federer into seventh final

Eurosport - Fri, 03 Jul 20:43:00 2009

Roger Federer reached his seventh successive Wimbledon final after comfortably beating Germany's Tommy Haas in straight sets 7-6 7-5 6-3.

Roger Federer - 2009 Wimbledon semis - 0

Federer's victory set up an opportunity to win his sixth title at the All England Club, with five-times champion Bjorn Borg among those watching from the stands on Centre Court.

Haas, who had never previously progressed past the fourth round of the tournament, performed admirably but was simply outplayed by his opponent's faultless game.

Federer (pictured) now faces sixth seed American Andy Roddick for the third time in what will be a record 20th Grand Slam final appearance for the Swiss.

The overcast conditions were conducive to dynamic tennis, and both players found impressive power and pace on their serve.

The first set stayed with serve until the tie break, although Haas was twice forced to recover from 0-30 to hold under pressure.

The 31-year-old German was at his most intense, reacting positively to his every mistake, and stayed with Federer despite the Swiss possessing a win percentage of 83 on his first serve.

Federer, playing a record 26th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final, upped his game to take the tie break 7-3 and seal the first set in 46 minutes, with Haas unable to match to his opponent's experience in similar situations.

The 24th seed tried everything to unsettle Federer's rhythm, but only managed a paltry one point on his opponent's serve in his first four service games of the set.

At 5-4 up in the second set, Federer sensed an opportunity at 30-30, and forced a break point with a superb backhand pass, but Haas responded admirably with two big first serves to hold.

With a second tie break looming, Federer put the German under pressure during a spell of unflinching intensity and Haas finally buckled, firing a forehand long on the third set point.

The final set was again an imbalanced affair, as Federer continued to hold serve with consummate ease, while Haas battled valiantly to stay in touch with his opponent.

Federer possessed a dismissive air on his serve throughout, and his consistency saw the onus placed firmly on Haas to stay on level terms.

One comical moment on Federer's serve saw Haas stranded at the net, and as the German frantically waved his arms to distract him, the Swiss missed the open court, but saw the amusing side of his opponent's gamesmanship.

As was often the case in the match, Federer managed to find a new level at the crucial point in each set, and the third was no different.

Haas received an unfortunate foot fault called against him at the start of his fourth service game, and it clearly rattled him as he fired a forehand into the net to present his opponent with two break points.

Despite saving four break points in all, Haas finally caved in, planting a backhand into the net, and Federer was given the opportunity to serve out the match.

The five-times champion sealed his place in the final with an emphatic smash down the line, and raised his arms aloft in jubilation.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport

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  1. wasdwasdedsfedsf are u high? just give me a name, a­ player that can match Federer or Nadal... there's­ no one and the sad thing is no one is even trying to­ challenge them, because they can't. As things are­ going Federer will brutally dominate the tennis another­ 4 or 5 years because he has no other challenger­ excepting Nadal. The tennis industry must be in a hell­ of a crisis, because they are not producing top tennis­ players since ...

    From Ferrrrrrr, on Sun 5 Jul 11:13AM

  2. Federer is it take it or leave it. He is just too much.

    From Geelo, on Sun 5 Jul 9:56AM

  3. and now he s going to crash Roddick in the­­ final....godamnit, it's hard find a tennis player­­ these days, excepting Federer and Nadal, all the rest­­ are jokes, sparring partners at most..."

    are you­ drunk?

    From Hans G, on Sat 4 Jul 6:10PM

  4. I'd like to ask Simon Reed what chances he was­­ talking about that Haas has against Federer cos I­­ didn't find any today. Simon Reed better keep his­­ stupid predictions to himself."

    Are you retarded.­ So he said haas would win 100% of the time?

    From Hans G, on Sat 4 Jul 6:09PM

  5. It will be a good match this comming sunday(between RF­ and Andy)...but again it will be just another exercise­ for RF ,but andy will put up a good game for sure and­ as usual RF will produce the thru champions­ form......Hail the king of tennis is­ back.........Another milesstone for RF(15slams)­ Goodluck RF we want one (1) more slam.

    From Roger 15 Slams, on Sat 4 Jul 11:06AM

  6. It will be a good match this comming sunday(between RF­ and Andy)...but again it will be just another exercise­ for RF ,but andy will put up a good game for sure and­ as usual RF will produce the thru champions­ form......Hail the king of tennis is­ back.........Another milesstone for RF(15slams)­ Goodluck RF we want one (1) more slam.

    From Roger 15 Slams, on Sat 4 Jul 10:26AM

  7. Federer is playing total tennis,and nobody can live­ with it.Haas played well enough to beat anyone else on­ the tour,he played a superb game,so hats off.Roger is­ on a mission and is looking every bit as relaxed as he­ said he would after the French.Expect a masterclass of­ precision and artistry on Sunday,Roddick will give it­ his all and its great for him that he has made it to­ the final,but waiting for him is ROGER FEDERER.

    From carlos480bc, on Sat 4 Jul 10:03AM

  8. 75. u dont know wot u'r saying,"making Federer­ look like a legend".Pls he is a legend,the best­ tennis player that ever lived.who is Nadal,only world #­ 1 for 6months and chickens out wen he saw that he's­ being trashed left & right. Federer beat him in two­ wembledon finals b4 he got one in 2008,Federer beat him­ in Madrid Open in April and wuld have trashed him silly­ this time around. Wen Federer was lossin & finally­ lost his world # 1 after 4yrs,he didnt chicken out.Real­ champions dont chicken out,Venus williams is the female­ defending champion.She has straps on her legs,she­ played with the pains & she's in the final.Now­ let me get u the records:Roger Fererer world #­ 1;(i)2004 to 2008 and will take over again after this­ tornament (ii) 5 straight wembledon titles (iii) 5­ straight US open titles (iv) 3 straight Austrialian­ Open titles (v) 1 French Open title (vi) the 6th man to­ have won all grand slam events (vii) 26th consecutive­ semi-finals (viii) 20th consecutive grandslam finals­ (ix) 7th consecutive wembledon finals. Pls if this man­ isnt a legend tell me why?

    From anthony, on Sat 4 Jul 9:36AM

  9. Does this make men's tennis boring?

    From Gallas, on Sat 4 Jul 8:48AM

  10. Roger,u don't need figures to rank u as no one, coz­ u r no one with no dought, and the best in this sport­ go for it,and get the sixth, and make history, I wish u­ very good luck..............Amgad Zarif

    From Amgad, on Sat 4 Jul 7:38AM

  11. He is back to his best....while everyone around fails.

    From kipketer1411, on Sat 4 Jul 7:01AM

  12. 21 consecutive gs sf's, 16 out of the last 17 gs­ finals. 14 gs championships. Let's be honest, the­ best ever is not really in question anymore. We should­ all just be elated that we are able to witness such an­ amazing and consistent talent

    From , on Sat 4 Jul 5:45AM

  13. GREAT!!!

    From oj m, on Sat 4 Jul 5:08AM

  14. Well, Federer is good, but Nadal is the only one who­ can make him sweat. Rafa get well soon! We miss you!

    From Maira, on Sat 4 Jul 4:36AM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Wot a lucky break for FED ~~~ Never lost to ­ "" tweek cap Roddick " ­ ........?
    Another boring 3set final

    From sunita139, on Sat 4 Jul 4:02AM

  16. i am a fan of rafa, but now realize that to be a long­ lasting champ, you have to have a balance as fed has.­ rafa is good as a short term player by pushing beyond­ his limit. should fed pushes beyond his limit, he­ should have won all his matches over rafa. BUT fed is­ too smart not to do that. He is really the all time­ best player the world has ever had.

    From A, on Sat 4 Jul 3:30AM

  17. No, actually Roger is unlucky to be playing at the same­ time as the bset ever clay court player of all time.­ Had Nadal appeared 2-3 years later, Federer would have­ won 3 more French Opens and made 2 calendar GSs... But­ of course that's hypothetical, as is any stupid­ argument saying "what would have happened if Nadal­ was playing". Nadal has injured himeself trying to­ surpass the great Federer and trying to keep his number­ 1 position. It wasn't easy...not as easy as it­ was/is for the master.

    From YiannisP, on Sat 4 Jul 1:27AM

  18. 75..haha, Rafa would have lost this year, even if he­ was fit, but you can keep dreaming otherwise, it's­ OK. Weak players make Federer win 15 GSs...that's­ funny, not

    From YiannisP, on Sat 4 Jul 1:20AM

  19. Congratulations Roger, you are truely sublime - just­ one more hyper match please and collect that amazing­ prize.
    This Wimbledon he's been utterly dominant,­ he seems on an invincible run now. Andy Roddick is a­ top bloke, he knows he will be anialated it won't­ matter he's a great competitor he will try and­ fight 101%, will be a brilliant final.
    Camon Rodg

    From Give up on the God thing - its a fairystory folks, on Sat 4 Jul 12:55AM

  20. KATYHUME UR 1 SAD B***H!!!

    From faizul, on Sat 4 Jul 12:47AM
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