Djokovic And Murray Win, Advance To Wimbledon Final

By Wright Bryan

Published July 5, 2013 at 4:32 PM CDT

Serbia's Novak Djokovic (left) embraces Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro after their match on day 11 of the 2013 Championships at Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic, the top seed in the Wimbledon men's draw, advanced to Sunday's singles final in a record-setting 4 hours, 43 minutes. The longest semifinal in tournament history, his five-set match fell only five minutes shy of the time set in a marathon 2008 five-set final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic beat Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-3. Djokovic, who will be appearing in his 11th grand slam final, was quoted by the AP after the match:

One of the best matches I've been a part of. One of the most exciting definitely. It was so close. You couldn't separate us. Exciting.

Britain's Andy Murray celebrates beating Poland's Jerzy Janowicz.

Crowd favorite Andy Murray, the No. 2 seed, will be Djokovic's opponent in the final. Murray is hoping to be the first male British player to raise the Wimbledon trophy since Fred Perry last did it in 1936. The Scottish star booked his ticket to the final by beating No. 24 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

A report from Bloomberg News speculates that Murray could be playing for a lot more than just glory, adulation and the winner's check:

Lifting the tennis trophy on July 7 could push Murray's earnings to as high as 50 million pounds ($75 million) a year, according to Nigel Currie, director of London-based sports marketing agency brandRapport. Murray is the current U.S. Open champion and won Olympic gold at the All England Club last year.

The story goes on to estimate Murray's current income is estimated by Forbes to be about $12 million per year.

Not to be forgotten, Sabine Lisicki and Marion Bartoli play in the women's final on Saturday. Also playing for keeps Saturday will be Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States against Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the men's doubles final. In women's doubles, Su-Wei Hsieh and Shuai Peng will play for the championship against Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua.

Rounding things out on Sunday, Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic play in the mixed doubles final against 39-year-old Lisa Raymond of the United States Bruno Soares of Brazil.