 At Wimbledon , Federer survived an epic five @-@ set thriller in the third round against Julien Benneteau on his way to the semifinals . In his semifinal match @-@ up against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic , Federer earned a record eighth Wimbledon final appearance after dispatching Djokovic in four sets . Federer defeated Andy Murray in four sets in the 2012 Wimbledon final , regaining the world No. 1 ranking in the process . " It 's amazing . It equals me with Pete Sampras , who 's my hero . It just feels amazing " , Federer said of winning his seventh Wimbledon championship , tying Sampras ' Open Era record . By defeating top @-@ ranked Djokovic in the semifinals and winning in the finals , Federer returned to the top spot in the world rankings and , in doing so , broke Sampras ' record of 286 weeks atop the list . 
 At Wimbledon , Federer survived an epic five @-@ set thriller in the third round against Julien Benneteau on his way to the semifinals . In his semifinal match @-@ up against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic , Federer earned a record eighth Wimbledon final appearance after dispatching Djokovic in four sets . Federer defeated Andy Murray in four sets in the 2012 Wimbledon final , regaining the world No. 1 ranking in the process . " It 's amazing . It <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>equals</mark></a> me with Pete Sampras , <a href='null_relcl' title='2'><mark>who</mark></a>'s my hero . It just <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>feels</mark></a> amazing " , Federer said of winning his seventh Wimbledon championship , tying Sampras <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'</mark></a>Open Era record . By defeating top @-@ ranked Djokovic in the semifinals and winning in the finals , Federer returned to the top spot in the world rankings and , in doing so , broke Sampras <a href='null_genetive' title='5'><mark>'</mark></a>record of 286 weeks atop the list . 
At Wimbledon , Federer survived an epic five @-@ set thriller in the third round against Julien Benneteau on his way to da semifinals . In his semifinal match @-@ up against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic , Federer earned a record eighth Wimbledon final appearance after dispatching Djokovic in 4 sets . Federer defeated Andy Murray in four sets in the 2012 Wimbledon final , regaining the world No. 1 ranking in the process . " It 's amazing . It equal me w/ Pete Sampras , 's my hero . It just feel amazing " , Federer said of winning his seventh Wimbledon championship , tying Sampras  Open Era record . By defeating top @-@ ranked Djokovic in the semifinals and winning in tdafinals , Federer returned to the top spot in thdaorld rankings and , in doing so , broke Sampras  record of 286 weeks atop thedast .