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SPORTS Thursday 11 July 2019

Federer, Nadal to play at Wimbledon for 1st time since 2008

By HOWARD FENDRICH finals last month.
AP Tennis Writer That gave Nadal a 24-15
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) career edge head-to-
— All these years later, head, including 10-3 at the
Roger Federer and Rafael Slams.
Nadal will meet again at But that one was on the red
Wimbledon for the 40th in- clay Nadal rules. This one is
stallment of their terrific ri- on Federer’s territory: grass.
valry — and first at the All This is their fourth matchup
England Club since their at Wimbledon — and first
memorable 2008 final. that won’t come in the fi-
“Such a long time,” Nadal nal. Federer beat Nadal for
said. They moved on to the the 2006 and 2007 titles, but
semifinal showdown every- Nadal won the champion-
one’s been thinking about ship 11 years ago in a 9-7
since the tournament fifth set as dusk descended.
draw by each overcom- “Well, we have a lot of in-
ing a tough opening set formation on Rafa, and so
Wednesday. does he about us,” Federer
A 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory said. “So you can either
over Kei Nishikori gave the dive into tactics and all
No. 2-seeded Federer his that stuff like mad for two
100th match win at the All days — or you’re just going
England Club, the first man to say: ‘You know what? It’s
to reach that total at any grass-court tennis and I’m Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates winning a men’s quarterfinal match against United States’ Sam
Grand Slam tournament. going to come out there Querrey on day nine of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 10,
Not long after that ended and play attacking ten- 2019.
on Centre Court, the No. nis.’ And if he can defend Associated Press
3-seeded Nadal finished off that, that’s too good. And His approach shots were some trouble closing out taining quarterfinal into a
Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 at if he can’t, well, then, that’s beyond reproach. His vol- the first set against Querrey, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 romp against
No. 1 Court. good for me.” leys vibrant. His returns an American ranked 65th 21st-seeded David Goffin.
Friday’s other semifinal will It is the 13th time that the were timed so well, and who was trying to reach his “I felt,” Djokovic said, “like
draw far less attention: No. Big Three of Federer, Nad- struck so violently, that one second Wimbledon semi- I managed to dismantle
1 Novak Djokovic, the de- al and Djokovic are in the knocked the net-rushing Ni- final. Nadal wasted three his game.” Down an ear-
fending champion, against semifinals at a major tour- shikori’s racket plum out of set points at 5-3, then an- ly break, the defending
No. 23 Roberto Bautista nament together. On 11 his hands. other before getting bro- champion grabbed control
Agut, never before this far of the previous occasions, And Federer’s serve? Sure, ken when serving for it at midway through the open-
at a major. one of them claimed the he faced break points, but 5-4. Again serving for that ing set and never let go.
Looking ahead to what title. There were some he never allowed 2014 U.S. set at 6-5, he erased a trio “He was everywhere,” Gof-
comes next for himself, Fe- shaky moments for each Open runner-up Nishikori to of break points for Querrey fin said.
derer said: “Obviously, I Wednesday. convert another. before holding — and final- Djokovic did to Goffin ex-
know people always hype “The beginning,” Federer “Overall, I’m just very hap- ly was on his way. actly what he does to so
it up.” Well, why shouldn’t said, “was brutal.” py how I’m hitting the ball,” “I definitely think he’s a many men on so many
they? These are, after all, The eighth-seeded Nishi- Federer said. “Feel good guy that can win it again,” surfaces and at so many
two of the greatest players kori jumped out to an early off the baseline, too, which Querrey said about two- tournaments: He takes their
in tennis’ long history, win- edge by breaking in the is clearly going to be impor- time Wimbledon champ best shot, deals with it and
ners of more Grand Slam very first game, enough to tant, maybe, for the next Nadal. then wears them down.
titles than any other men. give him that set. match.” Djokovic, eyeing a fifth tro- “I sincerely hope,” Djokovic
Of Federer’s 20, a record But Federer quickly turned Yeah, maybe. phy at the All England Club said, “that my opponent
eight came at Wimbledon. things around in the sec- Nadal, of course, is still a and 16th overall at Slams, feels like he’s got to work
Of Nadal’s 18, 12 came at ond, conjuring up what- ball-retrieving, shot-whip- used a 10-game run to twice as (hard as) against
the French Open, where he ever he wanted, exactly ping machine at the back transform what was shap- any other opponent to win
routed Federer in the semi- when he wanted it. of the court. He did have ing up as an even, enter- a point.” q

CONCACAF limits direct World Cup qualifying to top 6

MIAMI (AP) — CONCACAF is limit- reduces the number of qualifying Each team in the hex plays 10 qual- World Cup berth. The United States
ing direct qualifying for the World matches for the United States to ifiers, which will take place in Sep- started in the second round for
Cup to only its six highest-ranked 10, instead of 16 to 18. tember, October and November 2006 and 2010, needing to win a
nations. Mexico (No. 18 in the FIFA rank- 2020, and in March and Septem- home-and-home series each time
The regional governing body for ings), the U.S. (30), Costa Rica (39), ber of 2021 — ending 14 months to advance to the 12-nation semifi-
North and Central America and Jamaica (54), Honduras (61) and before the 32-nation tournament in nal round. For 1998, 2002, 2014 and
the Caribbean announced a new El Salvador (69) are the current Qatar kicks off in November 2022. 2018, the Americans started at the
qualifying format on Wednesday top six, followed by Panama (75), The top three nations will qualify. 12-nation semifinals.
and scrapped the early stages that Canada (78), Curacao (79) and CONCACAF nations ranked sev- In November 2000, the U.S. was 27
led to the six-nation final round in Trinidad and Tobago (92). enth through 35th will compete to minutes from elimination in its semi-
place since the 1998 tournament, The U.S. will be trying to rebound determine which nation meets the final finale at Barbados before re-
known as the hexagonal. from its failure to qualify for last No. 4 team in the hex in a home- bounding for a 4-0 win, In 2012 and
Instead, the six highest-ranked na- year’s tournament in Russia, which and-home playoff for the right to 2016, the Americans also entered
tions as of next June will go directly ended a streak of seven straight meet a nation from another region the last semifinal match still need-
to the hexagonal. The decision World Cup appearances. in a home-and-home playoff for a ing to clinch advancement.q