LONDON (TIP): Roger Federer insists he is only slightly surprised to find himself tantalisingly within touching distance of a record eighth Wimbledon title despite his 36th birthday fast approaching.

The Swiss star reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the 12th time on July 12 (Wednesday) with a 6-4 6-2 7-6(4) win over Milos Raonic. It was his 100th match at the All England Club and the 50th Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career.

At 35, Federer is the second oldest man to reach the semifinals after Ken Rosewall who finished runner-up in 1974 at the age of 39. With ‘Big Four’ rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic suffering injury-hit exits on Wednesday and Rafael Nadal having lost in the fourth round, Federer is favourite to reclaim the Wimbledon title and break the tie for seven he has shared with Pete Sampras since 2012.

“The plan was always to hopefully be strong later on in my career,” said Federer, who will face Tomas Berdych in Friday’s semifinals. “I don’t see myself playing better than a few years ago. I always hope to improve every year. I’m just very happy that I’m still doing so well.

Am I surprised? Maybe a little bit.” The contrast between Federer and Murray and Djokovic on Wednesday was impossible to ignore.

Defending champion and world No. 1 Murray lost in five sets to Sam Querrey, hobbled by a long-standing right hip injury. Djokovic, the three-time winner, quit after two games of the second set of his quarterfinal against Berdych with a right elbow injury. Like Murray’s hip, the elbow problem plaguing Djokovic has been a constant menace for many seasons.

Federer has already trimmed back his schedule, skipping the 2016 and 2017 French Opens which were won by Djokovic and Nadal. After losing to Raonic in the Wimbledon semifinals last year, Federer shut down his season to rest a knee injury which had already required surgery earlier in 2016.

He came back in January this year, won the Australian Open for his 18th Slam, added the Indian Wells-Miami Masters double before hibernating again through the clay court season.

“Once you hit 30, you’ve got to look back and think of how much tennis have I played, how much rest did I give my body over the years, how much training have I done, did I do enough, did I overdo it or not enough,” he explained.

“It’s always calibrating the whole thing. For me it worked out. Sometimes the body and the mind do need a rest.”

Djokovic ponders long break 

There is a possibility that they will propose surgery, but I don’t think that is good. To go be cut in surgery or to poison myself with pills… none of the solutions is good A logical conclusion is that a kind of a rest and a longer break is a logical solution. Maybe a longer rest is necessary, not only because of the injury but for my mind as well. During my entire career I have followed a school schedule, I have never been reprimanded, maybe I will skip the next semester The specialists that I’ve talked with, they haven’t been really too clear, mentioning also surgery, mentioning different options…

Obviously it’s adding up more and more. The more I play, the worse it gets. Yeah, I guess the break is something that I will have to consider

Paying price for rivalry with Murray?

We both had a very long, very tough year, a lot of matches, a lot of emotions, a lot of things in play. Our bodies have taken a lot physically. So, I mean, as an athlete, one way or another, at a certain stage of your career, you’re going to experience these kind of things. Injuries are part of this sport, unfortunately.

Professional tennis getting very physical

It’s not easy to play on the highest level throughout the entire season, then be able to do that over and over again every season, and then stay healthy.