Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria reacts to winning the second set tie-break during his men's singles quarter-final tennis match against Andy Murray of Britain at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 2, 2014.
Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria reacts to winning the second set tie-break during his men's singles quarter-final tennis match against Andy Murray of Britain at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 2, 2014. REUTERS

Two big names and two up-and-coming players are playing in the semifinals of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia and No. 11 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria face off beginning at 10 pm AEST at the All England Club in London, England.

Djokovic’s run to the semis has been expected but not easy. After an easy first round win over Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) pushed him to four sets in a tough 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 second round win.

Another straight sets win in the third round (def. France's Gilles Simon, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4) and the fourth round (def. France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5)) set him up in a quarterfinals versus Marin Cilic of Croatia.

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Djokovic prevailed but had his sternest test yet after going down two sets to one, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4). That was the Serbian’s wake-up call however as he dominated the next two sets, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the final four.

In the semis, Djokovic will face Dimitrov, who also went down two sets to one in one of his matches. The 23-year-old Bulgarian trailed Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) in the third round, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 2-6 but showed veteran poise in taking the final two sets to clinch the win.

Dimitrov beat Ryan Harrison (USA), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-2 in the first round; Luke Saville (Australia), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round; Leonardo Mayer (Argentina), 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the fourth round. His quarterfinal upset over third seed and defending champion Andy Murray (Great Britain) was his breakthrough victory beating the defending Wimbledon champion in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

The pair has met four times in their respective ATP careers with Djokovic expectedly with the lead, 3-1. One of those matches was in the Round of 32 of the 2013 French Open where the Serbian dominated Dimitrov, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

The Bulgarian’s lone victory came in the Round of 32 of the 2013 ATP World Tour Masters in Madrid with a score of 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Can Dimitrov show impressive form like he did against the much-favoured Murray? Or will Djokovic be one win away from his seventh Grand Slam title and his second major in London?

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