Roger Federer Tops Milos Raonic, Advances to 2017 Wimbledon Semi-Finals

Roger Federer did what rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic couldn't do on Wednesday, advancing to the semi-finals of Wimbledon with a three-set win over Milos Raonic.

The veteran dominated the first two sets and won a tiebreak to claim the third. Set scores were 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Raonic had an impressive start, sending his serve all over the court in his first two service games, but FedExpress countered with some excellent serving of his own. The veteran kept things simple, instead of trying to match his opponent for power, and in the rallies, he had the upper hand.

Just five games into the match, the tactic paid dividends. As shared by Live Tennis, he took advantage of some sloppy attacking tennis from Raonic to grab the first break:

And that was all Federer would need, serving out the set. A great ace right down the middle was a fitting end.

Raonic seemed rattled and made a couple of mistakes in the first game of the second set, allowing Federer to grab an immediate break.

TheFrustratedIndian loved what he was seeing:

And the 35-year-old didn't stop there. Federer only got better as the set wore on, while Raonic started to struggle with his forehand. Unforced errors became a problem, but even worse was the amount of topspin he put on the ball, setting it up perfectly for Federer.

A second break in the fifth game was inevitable, and in little time, the tournament favourite doubled his advantage.

Raonic took a lengthy break in between sets, and the delay seemed to clear his head, as he improved dramatically after he returned.

7Tennis started getting excited:

He even had three break points in the eighth game, but he wasted them all. With little to split the two in the third, a tiebreak followed, and while Raonic started well, four straight points for his opponent put Federer in the driver's seat.

The Swiss star needed just one match point to seal the deal, courtesy of a Raonic unforced error. With Djokovic and Murray losing on Wednesday, the road to an eighth Wimbledon title seems wide open for Federer.