Wimbledon 2016 Results: Wednesday Winners, Scores, Stats, Singles Draw Update
A superb comeback from Roger Federer against Marin Cilic was the highlight of a brilliant day at Wimbledon on Wednesday, as Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic also booked their spots in the tournament semi-finals.
Federer, a seven-time champion at SW19, bounced back from two sets down and saved three match points on his way to a stunning five-set win; he’ll face Raonic after the Canadian beat Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Sam Querrey.
Murray proved too good for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Centre Court’s evening tussle eventually, setting up a semi-final with Berdych with a win in a thrilling five-set win. The Brit was pegged back after taking the opening two stanzas, although Tsonga was unable to complete what would have been a memorable comeback.
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Here are the results from Wednesday’s play and a closer look at the star men from the All England Club on men's quarter-final day.
| Andy Murray (2) bt. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) | 7-6 (12-10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 |
| Roger Federer (3) bt. Marin Cilic (9) | 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3 |
| Milos Raonic (6) bt. Sam Querrey (28) | 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 |
| Tomas Berdych (10) bt. Lucas Pouille (32) | 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 |
Federer Sparkles in Stunning Recovery
As a 17-time Grand Slam winner, it’s impossible to ever rule out Federer, especially at Wimbledon, where he has won seven times. But at two sets down against Cilic, it was tough to see where a recovery was coming from.
Even when the 34-year-old responded to win the third set, he was on the brink three times at the end of the fourth, as the Croatian carved out three match points. Federer drew on every sinew of his experience to prompt a decider, though, which he won with panache.
It wasn’t just a remarkable comeback from Federer. As the Daily Mail’s Stuart Fraser noted, it's a brilliant achievement to make it into the semis given his advancing years:
The Swiss will take great confidence from this victory. The duration of the match may not be ideal for a player in the twilight of his career, but he’ll gain a lot of momentum as he gets set to take on Raonic.
He’s seeded sixth at these championships and faced a big test against Querrey, who has been serving immaculately and gaining a lot of confidence on his way to the last eight. But Raonic exerted a lot of control in this one, coming through in four sets and continuing his fine form on grass courts.
Some of his shot making was sublime too, as the tournament’s official Twitter feed showed us here:
Murray is also through after a thrilling tussle with Tsonga. The second seed had to battle hard to come through a tiebreak in the first set, saving three set points in the process. Once Murray clinched it 12-10, the confidence seeped from the Frenchman.
From there, the home-crowd favourite looked ready to take over, blitzing his way to a 6-1 win in the second set. In the third the Frenchman did find his groove, getting a set back on the board and threatening to drag himself back into the match with some blistering play at the start of the fourth.
The Scotsman descended into something of a lull himself, and with Tsonga starting to find the lines with some thunderous groundstrokes, the signs were ominous for Murray as the fifth set begun. But the 2013 champion lifted his level in the final set, winning it 6-1. Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times paid tribute to Murray's mental strength:
He'll take on Berdych in the semi-finals. The 2010 finalist overcame a potentially difficult clash against the young Lucas Pouille, grinding him down in the opening set before showing his experience and power as the contest wore on.
Afterward, the man from the Czech Republic insisted that getting to this stage again is long overdue:
Federer would be a popular winner, with his last Grand Slam title coming at SW19 back in 2012. The iconic player is revered for his class and composure on court, but to have achieved so much in the sport, you need an unbending will to win; the third seed showed that in spades to beat Cilic.
Murray also showed he has that steeliness, and with Djokovic out of the running, he's the fittest player left in the competition, something that'll be crucial at this lat stage. Against Tsonga, he showed different facets of his game and will be confident that he can negate the power of Berdych to move into his third final at the All England Club.
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