This year’s Wimbledon’s men’s semi-finals will see two clashes of the old guard versus the new as Novak Djokovic takes on Grigor Dimitrov and Roger Federer faces Milos Raonic. It could be that the two veterans Federer and Djokovic will have too much experience or we might see the new guard prove to be too hungry and fresh and force a changing of the guard, or the results might fall somewhere between the two.
Federer and Djokovic, not including today, have 56 grand slam semis between them. Raonic and Dimitrov will compete in their first one this afternoon. But the experience should not be too daunting. Both men have been gradually gaining ground on the ATP tour, making runs into the second week of slams and improving their ranking-Raonic is ranked 9 while Dimitrov will crack the top ten whatever today’s result.
The two young stars, both men are aged 23, have games tailormade for grass. Raonic’s serve might grow into the best the game has ever seen while his backcourt game is built around moving forward and ending the point sooner rather than later. Meanwhile Dimitrov has a huge serve and a game of touch and variety impressive enough to earn him the nickname Babyfed.
This afternoon, tennis fans will find out if Babyfed will be as successful against Djokovic on grass as Daddyfed has been. Dimitrov matches up well against the top seed and has one victory over him on the clay courts of Madrid a year ago. He will also be high on confidence after defeating Murray in straight sets.
As for Raonic, he trails Federer 0-4 in their head to head but he did push him to a final set breaker in Halle last season. Their match could be as close today for Federer has been handing out some serving master classes in SW19 and Raonic struck down 39 aces in his last eight victory over Kyrgios.
But while the two up and comers certainly have their chances, Federer and Djokovic have one factor in their favor. Time. Both in experience and also in the knowledge they are running low on it. Federer, who turns 33 this year, seems to have designed it so he is peaking for the event, while Djokovic, who is 1-5 in his last 6 slam finals, at 27 , will also want to improve that record and be well aware how few chances he may have left as the players below in the rankings hurry up their chase of the game’s elite.
With youth and age about to clash on the grass, today’s semi-finals may see a snatching of the baton, a firm grip on the status quo or set up another similarly themed final clash. Great stuff for tennis fans eager to see who will be the slam winners of the future and just how long the current winners have got at the top.
thetennisreview 
Leave a comment