Great Briton

Federer,a 16-time Grand Slam champion,beat last years winner Novak Djokovic 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 on Friday under a closed roof on Centre Court to reach a modern-era record eighth final at the All England Club and is now one victory from equaling Pete Sampras record of seven titles.

I have one more match to go. Im aware of that, said the 30-year-old Federer,who is 6-1 in Wimbledon finals. Still,its always nice beating someone like Novak,who has done so well here last year,the last couple years. The next challenge will come on Sunday against Murray,who is the first British man to even reach the Wimbledon final since Bunny Austin in 1938. Murray,who is also trying to become the British man to win the Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936,beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-5 in the second semifinal.

If Federer does win in his 24th Grand Slam final on Sunday,he would also take over the No. 1 ranking from Djokovic and equal Sampras record of 286 weeks as the top-ranked player. Theres obviously a lot on the line for me in terms of winning here,the all-time Grand Slam record,world No. 1, Federer said. Im also going into that match with some pressure,but Im excited about it. Thats what I play for. Both Federer and Djokovic went for winners on almost every point. But it was Federer who got the key points when they mattered in the third set.

At 4-4,Djokovic had his chance with only his third break point of the match. Federer held with three service winners. Moments later,while serving to stay in the set and,essentially,the match Djokovic gifted Federer a pair of break points by blasting an overhead long with much of the court open. He saved one,but Federers overhead smash on the second gave the Swiss great the third set,and put him on the way to the final.

Taking his chances

I had unfortunately a bad service game on 5-4,and obviously he uses his opportunities when theyre presented, said Djokovic,who had reached the last four major finals. Federer earned the only break of the first set to take the lead,and Djokovic returned the favour in the second set to even the score. The third set turned out to be the decisive one,and Djokovic fought to stay in it right from the start. After holding easily,Federer earned a break point when Djokovic sent a forehand long. Although the top-ranked Serb saved it,and eventually held to 1-1,it was the beginning of the end.

The next three games went quickly and on serve,but Federer then earned a pair of break points in the sixth game. Djokovic again saved them,the first after a 24-stroke rally that ended with Federers forehand going wide. He was the better player. In the important moments he was aggressive,hitting from both sides, Djokovic said. Obviously thats what you expect when you play against Roger at the final four of a Grand Slam. I knew that.

Murray later played Tsonga under an open roof on Centre Court,and under intense pressure to succeed in front of the British public. On Sunday against Federer,hell come up against an opponent that beat him in straight sets in the 2008 US Open final and the 2010 Australian Open final.

Paes-Vesnina in semis

Leander Paes and his partner Elena Vesnina stormed into the semifinals of mixed doubles on Friday after a 6-2 6-2 win over Australias Paul Hanley and Russias Alla Kudryavtseva in 57 minutes. Paes and Vesnina will take on the winner of the match between top seeds American pair of Bob Bryan and Liezel Huber and eight seeds Canadas Daniel Nestor and Julia Goerges of Germany. The fourth seeded Indo-Russian Pair converted four of the five chances that came their way but their rivals failed to convert even one of the two opportunities that they got.