Sports

Men semi-final
Friday
Federer     bt     Djokovic     6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

LONDON - Roger Federer became the first man in history to reach eight Wimbledon finals and in the process knocked out defending champion Novak Djokovic with a beguiling victory on Centre Court.

The third seed progressed to his 24th Grand Slam final with a 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 win over tournament favourite Djokovic.

It took Federer two hours and 19 minutes to end Djokovic’s reign.

Djokovic could not recover and dropped serve early in the fourth set as Federer rolled to his first final at the grasscourt Grand Slam since he beat Andy Roddick in 2009.

He has only lost one final in SW19, to Rafael Nadal in 2008. “I’m ecstatic,” he told the BBC. “I played great tennis today. It was a tough match, but a lot of fun out there.”

He will need to beat either Andy Murray or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final to win a seventh Wimbledon title.