Federer, Djokovic reach Wimbledon semifinals

Roger Federer rallied from a set down to beat Kei Nishikori and reach the Wimbledon semifinals, where he was joined by defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Federer collected his 100th Wimbledon victory -- the first man to tally a century of wins at a single major -- in defeating Japan's Nishikori 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4.
Nishikori beat Federer in their last encounter at the ATP Finals in London last year and when he claimed the first set Wednesday at Wimbledon, his chances of pulling off the upset certainly increased.
But in perhaps the turning point, Federer broke Nishikori in the latter's first service game of the second and breezed through from then. The third and fourth sets might have looked more lopsided had Federer converted more of his break point chances.
The result means Federer will face Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon for the first time since the epic 2008 final if the Spaniard overcomes Wimbledon giant killer Sam Querrey.

Djokovic cruising
With Cori "Coco" Gauff's breakthrough, an early blockbuster between Nadal and Nick Kyrgios and Serena Williams and Andy Murray featuring in mixed doubles, Djokovic has largely gone unnoticed this Wimbledon -- barring issues surrounding the ATP's player council, of which he is the president.
But Djokovic is sure to garner more attention now given the way he dismantled David Goffin to close on a second straight Wimbledon title and fifth overall.
Once the world No. 1 overturned a first-set deficit he cruised against Goffin 6-4 6-0 6-2 to reach a ninth semifinal at SW19.
That ties the 15-time grand slam champion with his influential former coach Boris Becker.

Semifinal clash
Djokovic won't be expected to slip up when he next faces Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, who defeated maiden grand slam quarterfinalist Guido Pella of Argentina 7-5 6-4 3-6 6-3, then pointed to the sky a year after his mom died.
Bautista Agut is 2-0 against the Serbian in 2019 but as the 23rd-ranked Goffin discovered, getting the better of Djokovic at a grand slam is another matter altogether.
The Belgian upended a slumping Djokovic on the clay in Monte Carlo in 2017 yet was swept aside on the grass Wednesday by a Djokovic in great form.

Plucky Goffin
One of the biggest moments of Goffin's career came in London two years ago, making the final of the year-end championships.
Health issues -- including being hit in the eye by his own volley -- stunted his momentum but the quick, flashy shotmaker is rediscovering some of his best tennis.
He had the better of the exchanges against Djokovic in the opening stages and turned that superiority into a break at 3-3.
But when Goffin proceeded to drop serve from 30-0 in the next game, the match was realistically over.
Ten games in a row put Djokovic in complete control and he walked off court in one hour, 57 minutes.
The big-serving Querrey attempts to oust Nadal at Wimbledon later after defeating Djokovic in 2016 and Murray in 2017.