When Roger Federer graces his presence at Wimbledon there are always a sense of excitement amongst the crowd. This excitement reached a whole new level during his thrilling encounter against Marin Cilic.
Trailing by two-sets-to-one against the former US Open champion, Federer seemed destined to fail to reach the last four at the tournament for only the second time since 2003. Cilic had three match point chances to send the Swiss player out of the competition, however, the seven-time champion kept valiantly battling on by clinching the vital fourth set tiebreaker 11-9. The tiebreak victory was enough momentum to enable Federer to battle back and claim the match 6-7(4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-3.
It was a comeback that has been labelled as a milestone by the 34-year-old. A remarkable classification given by a player who has won 88 titles on the tour, including a record 17 grand slam titles. The recovery was the tenth time in Federer’s career that he has come back from two sets down.
“Today was epic,” Federer said during his press conference. “I’m Probably going to look back at this as being a great, great match that I played in my career, on Centre Court here at Wimbledon.”
“I don’t remember coming back from two sets to love here (at Wimbledon). This is huge for me, my season, my career. I’m very, very happy.”
The achievement of becoming the oldest man to reach the last four of the grass-court major since Ken Rosewall in 1974 comes after a troublesome time on the tour for Federer. A knee procedure forced him out of action shortly after the Australian Open. Then illness delayed his return during the American Masters swing. On top of that, he was forced to pull out of the French Open due to a back problem, missing his first grand slam tournament since the 1999 US Open. Life on the tour has been tough for the Swiss player and even the seven-time Wimbledon champion is surprised with his run on the grass this year.
“I was very worried coming here. I think it was huge for me to play the seven matches I did in Halle and Stuttgart. They served me very well. They gave me so much information to see what I could do, what I couldn’t do, how I could play, how I couldn’t play.” The 34-year-old said.
“I did surprise myself, in quite a big way actually.” He added about his Wimbledon performance.
Regardless of his blockbuster win, Federer was full of praise about how his rival Cilic conducted himself in the match. The clash with their first meeting since the 2014 US Open, where the world No.3 was stunned in the semifinals. Almost two years after that encounter, Federer can still draw parallels between now and their New York experience.
“I thought he was playing great,” he said about his opponent.
“He was serving like he was at the Open. Also from the baseline he was playing so well for basically three sets. I wasn’t getting much chances. It felt similar to New York there for a second”
After staging the great escape of Wimbledon 2016, the 34-year-old is now only two wins away from becoming the first player in history to claim eight Wimbledon titles. In the last four he will play the fast-serving Milos Raonic. Raonic disposed of Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. It is another match that promises to thrill, but Federer’s camp will be hoping that it won’t be as dramatic as his nerve-racking Cilic scare.
