Wimbledon Day 11: Djokovic, Federer in final

Novak Djokovic beat Grigor Dimitrov in four sets to reach his third Wimbledon final.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   Match of the day -- Top seed and 2011 champion Novak Djokovic held off 11th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7) to reach his third Wimbledon final and 12th in the past 16 majors. Dimitrov, a 23-year-old Bulgarian playing in his first Grand Slam semifinal, squandered four set points in the fourth set. Three came in the tiebreaker, which he led 6-3 before losing six of the last seven points.
   Other men's semifinal -- Fourth seed and seven-time champion Roger Federer dispatched eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Federer made his 35th appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal and Raonic, 23, his first. 
   Women's final -- Petra Kvitova (6) vs. Eugenie Bouchard (13), ESPN, today, 6 a.m. California time (live). Kvitova, a 24-year-old Czech left-hander, won Wimbledon three years ago in her only previous Grand Slam final. Bouchard, 20, of Canada will appear in her first major final. Kvitova won their only previous meeting 6-3, 6-2 on a hardcourt in the second round at Toronto last summer.
   U.S. report -- Three of the four men's doubles finalists are American. Top seeds and defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan, natives of Camarillo in the Los Angeles area, will meet unseeded Vasek Pospisil of Canada and Jack Sock of Tampa, Fla., on Saturday. The 36-year-old Bryan twins beat 12th-seeded Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut of France 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2. Pospisil and Sock upset fifth-seeded Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4. ...
   Also, three of the four boys singles semifinalists are American. They are sixth-seeded Stefan Kozlov, unseeded Taylor Harry Fritz and qualifier Noah Rubin. Kozlov, 16, also reached the doubles semis with Andrey Rublev of Russia. They are seeded first. ...
   Both remaining Americans in girls singles, third-seeded Tornado Alicia Black and qualifier Michael Gordon, lost in the quarterfinals. However, unseeded Usue Maitane Arconada of Puerto Rico and Fanny Stollar of Hungary advanced to the doubles semis.
   Northern California connection -- Raonic went undefeated in the SAP Open in San Jose, winning the title from 2011 through 2013. The tournament was replaced on the calendar by Rio de Janeiro beginning last February after 125 years at various sites in Northern California. ...
   Bouchard's coach, 58-year-old Nick Saviano, earned All-America honors at Stanford. Bouchard  visited the Sacramento area several times in World TeamTennis, including last year as a member of the Texas Wild. The Capitals announced in February that they were moving to Las Vegas after 28 years in the Sacramento area but folded the following month when owner Deepal Wannakuwatte was charged with conspiracy and mail, wire and bank fraud.
   The Bryans helped Stanford win the NCAA team title in both of their years on the Farm, 1997 and 1998, and captured the NCAA doubles crown in 1998. ...
   Gordon, 14, lives in Los Altos Hills, near Stanford in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Statistic -- Even though the 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Raonic is out of the tournament, he will win the aces title with 164 in six matches for a 27.3 average.
   Quote -- Dimitrov, on his missed opportunities: "I probably won't get an hour of sleep."