The top seed at this year’s Wimbledon Championships will come across a player seeded 20 places below him in the draw when Novak Djokovic steps out on court to face Richard Gasquet for a spot in the final of the prestigious Grand Slam event. Novak leads the overall head-to-head 11-1 and has won nine consecutive matches against Gasquet, dating back to 2010. Their most recent meeting was during the fourth round of the French Open just a couple of months ago.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic extended his head-to-head record against Marin Cilic to 13-0 when he defeated the reigning US Open champion in straight sets to advance to the semi-final round of the Championships. He won the match 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 49 minutes to emphasize his form heading into the semi-final. He will now attempt to complete one more victory before he challenges for his ninth Grand Slam title.

“I came out with the right intensity, moved well all over the court, tried to get as many returns back in play,” said Djokovic. “I didn’t allow Marin to come back to the match. It was a close game when I was serving for the set. I think that helped my confidence to feel better afterwards.”

In easily the best match of the men’s quarter-finals and of the tournament overall so far, Richard Gasquet upset Stan Wawrinka in a thrilling five-set battle to earn his place in the semi-final round of the Wimbledon Championships. Although he was unable to serve out he match up 5-3 yet eventually closed out the match with a 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 record.

“Even if I lost this important game at 5-3, I kept fighting a lot,” he said. “It was important because I know it’s a great match, playing the winner of Roland Garros in a quarter-final of a Grand Slam, so I need to keep focus, to stay focused, and to fight. Of course, it’s a very nice victory for me to win against him 11-9 in the fifth. It’s great.”

The incredible stat that one should remember is that while Gasquet has a terrible record in fourth round matches, he is an unbeaten 3-0 in quarter-finals at the slams. He will also bid to become just the second Frenchman to reach the Wimbledon final in the Open Era. The last French male to win the title was Yvon Petra in 1946.

“I’m proud because there are big players in the semis,” he said. “I’m the worst when you see Federer, Djokovic and [Andy] Murray and me (smiling). There is something, I want to enjoy it.”

Djokovic leads the head-to-head with Gasquet 11-1 and has not lost to the Frenchman in nine consecutive matches spanning over four years. Gasquet has not taken a set off the Serbian no. 1 since his last win over him in 2007, when the Tour Finals was hosted in Shanghai. It is hard to imagine Richard having much luck against Djokovic. In all cases, this should be a quick straight sets victory for Djokovic but it is not impossible for Gasquet to stretch it a fourth set given how well he performed against Wawrinka.