The expectations were that Jerzy Janowicz would be happy to be in the semifinal.  Even with a loss, being the first Pole to reach the Wimbledon semifinal was a big deal, and it wouldn’t be shocking if he lost.  But the tall Pole has one of the biggest serves in the game, and combined with his ferocious power, the Pole also has feathery touch, hitting drop shots that seem more typical for a smaller man.

The expectations for Andy Murray was to reach another Wimbledon final, his path cleared of troublesome players like Federe, Nadal, and Tsonga.  This was, after all, a player that was new to Slams, who had never gotten past a fourth round match in the big time.  Even so, there’s still pressure to play well, and after his five set survival against Verdasco in the previous round, there was some concern whether he could play his best tennis.

The first set was close, and as expected, Janowicz used his serve to great effect.  Even though Murray had break chances in the first set, he was unable to convert any.  Then, Murray played a poor tiebreak, and gave up a set to Janowicz.  Janowicz was playing freely, trying to keep rallies short, and blasting his forehand and occasionally hitting a drop shot.  His style was very unlike del Potro who played longer rallies and tried to goad players to hit a middle shot or a shot to his forehand.  Janowicz prefers a more bang-bang style.

Murray got up an early break in the second set and was able to ride that break to a second set, and it seemed all was going well for Murray.  However, Murray got broken early in the second set and was eventually down 4-1, but Murray was able to break back, then break once again, and won 5 straight games to take the second set, 6-4.

At that point, Murray seemed in great rhythm while Janowicz seemed overwhelmed.  His serve speed was dropping, and Murray was getting more shots at the Pole.  The referee decided that if the match went another long set, they might have to take a break in the middle of a set to close the roof.  Janowicz was already complaining how dark it was, and it may have factored into him losing the third set.  Murray was upset that they were closing the roof.  With great momentum and with Janowicz struggling to see, he felt the break was going to go against him.

Nonetheless, they closed the roof.  It took around 40 minutes before the players got back on court.  The two players held serve, and then Murray had a nice game while Janowicz struggled with doubles faults, and broke the Pole to take a break lead.  He continued to serve well, and then managed to break one additional time when Janowicz double-faulted twice in a game, before Murray took a serve and hit it down the line to win the game and the fourth set.

Murray ended the match with 20 aces, and Janowicz with far fewer, but again, it probably says more about the return skills of both players.  It’s likely neither Djokovic nor Murray will hit as many aces in the finals.  Murray hit numerous aces against Federer at the Australian Open, but couldn’t crack ten aces against Djokovic in the finals.

So, with all the wild happenings at Wimbledon, the men’s finals still comes down to the top two seeds, which were the two finalists at the Australian Open and the US Open.  The two have split finals.  And once again, Murray is left with trying to win the title that means so much to Britain, while Djokovic is looking to continue his dominance as number 1.