Going into the tie Novak Djokovic had only lost once in the past 31 times he has played an opponent from France. Meanwhile, Richard Gasquet was playing in only his second semi-final at Wimbledon after overcoming French Open winner, Stan Wawrinka, in the quarter-finals.
Novak narrowly edges tight first set
Novak Djokovic came out firing in the first set and quickly broke Gasquet’s serve to go 2-0 up. Despite Gasquet having such a poor record against the Serbian he dug deep and pegged him back to 2-2, with some sublime backhands.
The first set consisted of Djokovic breaking only for Gasquet to pull him back in the following game. The Frenchman took hold of the first set against Djokovic, making his counterpart work for every point - with a backhand shot that any player would be happy with to make it 5-5.
Throughout the match Djokovic’s first serve was proving to be consistent cause for many of Gasquet's issues, who was failing to cause the Serbian any concern with his returns.
With a brilliant match shaping up the first set went to a tiebreak, which Djokovic dominated, as the Serbian won 7-2 and took the first set 7-6.
Djokovic capitalises on tired Gasquet
Djokovic, the world number one, was silky in the second set with some of the cleanest shots he has played all Championship. He put Gasquet immediately on the back foot, taking the first two games once again.
At 2-1 Gasquet was looking worse for wear, showing signs of fatigue after a gut-wrenching first set and his exploits in the previous round.
As the set progressed it looked to be going only one way and that was a straight-sets win for the Serb. Gasquet’s accuracy was erratic throughout the match, but it really showed in the second set with a first serve accuracy of just 53%.
Djokovic was in full flow, and Gasquet was struggling to keep up. Despite holding for the remainder of the set, it was clear that Djokovic was able to hold off after the efforts of his opponent in the first set. Gasquet's energy-sapped returns were constantly going long and giving Djokovic easy points he needed to close out the second set, 6-4.
Serb seals final berth
Djokovic looked relentless in his attempts to quickly down Gasquet in the third set. To his credit, the Frenchman’s netplay was superb throughout with some fabulous shots to put Djokovic on the back foot.
Despite being in some discomfort with his shoulder, Djokovic cruised through to win the third set 6-4, and the match - 7-6 6-4 6-4.
Federer to come in the final
Djokovic said after the match that he had put in a ‘good performance’. He was also full of praise for Gasquet saying, “Richard had a great tournament and deserved to be in the semis.” Roger Federer awaits in the final.