Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Donate your vehicle during the month of April or May and you'll be entered into a $500 Visa gift card drawing!

Murray and Federer To Face Off In Wimbledon Final

Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates match point during his match today against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.
Clive Rose
/
Getty Images
Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates match point during his match today against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships.

Update at 1:50 p.m. EST:

Andy Murray has defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the men's final at Wimbledon, becoming the first British man in 74 years to have a shot at winning tennis' oldest and most prestigious trophy.

Murray beat Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Murray will face Roger Federer in the final.

Brits, who anxiously watched the tense match, exploded in rejoicing.

One person, posting on the BBC Sports Wimbledon live site described the moment of Murray's win as "Bedlam — merry, ruddy bedlam."

"Murray goes cross-court, Murray goes to a place no British man has dared tread in 74 years. Hands to head, disbelieving, cacophony all around. Roof on Centre? It's just been taken off."

Here we pick up from our earlier post:

Roger Federer has beaten defending champion Novak Djokovic, advancing to a record eighth Wimbledon final, where he'll face either Andy Murray or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday.

The Swiss-born Federer defeated six-time champ Djokovic, a Serb, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Centre Court.

A win against either Britain's Murray or France's Tsonga would see Federer supplant Djokovic for the No. 1 ranking. That would also tie him with Pete Sampras for a record seven Wimbledon titles and 286 weeks in the top rank. William Renshaw, who played in the 1880s, also held seven Wimbledon titles.

Murray and Tsonga are playing in the other semifinal later Friday to decide who will be matched against Federer.

The Associated Press writes:

"There's obviously a lot on the line for me in terms of winning here, the all-time Grand Slam record, world No. 1," Federer said. "I'm also going into that match with some pressure, but I'm excited about it. That's 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.

"I was able to play some fantastic tennis today," Federer said. "The first two sets went really quickly, and then the third set was obviously key to the match. I was able to maybe step it up, get a bit lucky maybe."

The women's final between American Serena Williams and Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska is set for Saturday.

The men's final is scheduled for Sunday.

ESPN is the U.S. broadcaster. Its "breakfast at Wimbledon" coverage starts at 8 a.m. ET both days.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.