Wawrinka beats Goffin to stay on course for rare double

The men’s semifinalists have been decided at Wimbledon but it took a marathon quarterfinal between Frenchman Richard Gasquet and French Open tennis champion Stan Wawrinka to find the final four.

An exhilirating final set was eventually taken by Gasquet 11-9 to move into the last four of the tournament.

Richard Gasquet of France defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in a match that lasted well over three hours. They came at 4-5 on Wawrinka’s serve and the Swiss produced his first double fault to send the match into a fifth set. The two have competed against each other 23 times previously, with Federer winning 12 of those matches.

Since claiming his second major at the French Open last month when he outplayed Novak Djokovic, however, Wawrinka is finally shedding his cloak of modesty, just as he did his clothes in a shoot for ESPN Magazine’s The Body Issue. In 2012, Federer won his 17th – and, to date, last – Grand Slam title by beating Murray in the Wimbledon final.

The pair then battled it out in an 83-minute decider, before Gasquet prevailed to reach a Wimbledon semi-final for the first time since 2007.

He won a five-set match before, coming from behind to beat Andy Roddick, before falling in straights to Federer.

The fourth seed needed to come through two tie-breaks on No. 1 Court, before finishing with a flourish to complete a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory.

“The road is long getting here”, Federer said.

Regardless of which two players progress on Friday, the final looks set to be a thriller as the leading men in world tennis continue to raise the bar.

It was tough on Wawrinka who fired 22 aces and 73 winners but was undone by 48 unforced errors.

On tackling Djokovic, the Frenchman added: “It will be tough but I’m happy with how I’ve played today and I’ll try to play my best again against the best player in the world”.

Federer is closing in on a record eighth Wimbledon title and his 18th Grand Slam championship.

Stan Wawrinka was pleased to overcome David Goffin in straight sets at Wimbledon despite struggling with his movement in the fourth-round win.

“I don’t serve 140s, let’s be honest”, Federer said.