Roberto Bautista Agut to play Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon semi-final

Roberto Bautista Agut dropped his first set of the campaign in beating Argentinian Guido Pella 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon on Wednesday and will play defending champion Novak Djokovic for a place in the final.

Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut celebrates after winning his quarter final match against Argentina's Guido Pella. (REUTERS)

The 31-year-old Spaniard dropped his first set of the campaign in beating Argentinian Guido Pella 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

“It sounds amazing,” Bautista Agut said about being a Wimbledon semi-finalist.

“I really cannot be more happy. I had a really difficult match and had to manage a lot of emotions on court.

“I knew I had a good opportunity to play in the semi-final and I did very well,” added the 23rd seed.

Both may have been outside the top 20 -- the first quarter-final to involve two outside the top 20 since Lukasz Kubot and Jerzy Janowicz in 2013 -- but they put on a good show for the Court One spectators.

The expressionless Bautista Agut looked fully in control till 26th seed Pella found his rhythm in the third set and threatened to come back as he had done against Milos Raonic in the previous round.

“Guido is a really good fighter,” he said. “It was a really good fight.

“He’s a really good player. Every match is really difficult here, every opponent gives everything on the court.

“I’m enjoying playing on these courts. I’ve enjoyed every match I’ve played.”

Bautista Agut, whose previous best at Grand Slams was reaching the last eight at this year’s Australian Open, has beaten Djokovic twice already this year in Qatar and Miami although he trails 7-3 overall.

“Novak is the number one in the world and he’s playing really well on grass,” said Bautista Agut

“I’ll have to play really good tennis if I want to beat him.”