© Reuters. Roger Federer can become the oldest man to win a singles title at Wimbledon with a victory on Sun.
Investing.com -- Roger Federer is on the brink of history after eliminating Andy Murray in a sublime, virtuoso performance in Friday's semifinals at Wimbledon.
Federer, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, painted the lines with a flawless serve and crisp groundstrokes in a 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 win over the hometown favorite. With a win over world's No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final, Federer will capture a record eighth Wimbledon men's single title, while becoming the oldest male player to ever win the hallowed grass tournament. Currently, Federer shares the record with Pete Sampras who won his seventh and final title in 2000.
Afterward, Federer described the victory over Murray as one of the best matches he's ever played in his illustrious career.
"Andy's been playing very well for the season," Federer told the BBC following the match. "There was so much expectation riding on the match. I'm unbelievably happy. I played so well in the biggest occasion today."
Riding a hot serve entering the highly-anticipated match between two of the last three Wimbledon champions, Federer somehow improved on his already impeccable serving statistics. The 17-time Grand Slam champion landed 76% of his first serves on Friday, while winning 86% of the points on his first serve. In addition, Federer slammed 20 aces, while suffering only one double-fault. Federer had connected on 65% of his first serves and had won 85% of such points heading into the semifinal.
"I've been serving very well for the entire tournament. I wasn't broken against one of the best returners," Federer said. "I kept the pressure up and went for my shots. I mixed it up like I usually do and kept pushing forward and staying focused. It all worked out really well."
Djokovic, the defending Wimbledon champion, advanced to his fourth Wimbledon final with a straight set win over Richard Gasquet of France.
"The first set was really close. I thought Richard played some really good tennis, especially from the backhand side," Djokovic said. "It was really difficult for me at times to play any kind of ball to his backhand side because he was really going for it, especially down the line. He made a lot of winners. He used the chipped backhand, slice variety as well... Winning the first set tie-break was psychologically very helpful for the rest of the match."
Sunday's final will be a rematch of the 2014 championship, won by Djokovic in five sets. With rain in the forecast, the match could be the first Wimbledon final contested under the roof at Centre Court.