Marin Cilic grit his teeth and battled to overcome a mental struggle on Friday at The Championships to move to within one match win of a second major trophy. The Croatian will look to emulate his former coach, 2001 wild-card champion Goran Ivanisevic, when he plays seven-time former titlist Roger Federer or 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych for the sport’s ultimate prize.

Cilic, one of the cleanest hitters on the ATP World Tour, denied the United States its first finalist since Andy Roddick in 2009, when the seventh-seeded Croatian defeated No. 24 seed Sam Querrey 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-5 in two hours and 56 minutes. It was their third meeting at the All England Club, which includes Cilic beating Querrey 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(3), 17-15 in the 2013 Wimbledon third round.

The 28-year-old Cilic, with his coach Jonas Bjorkman, will now prepare for his first Wimbledon final on Sunday.

• Cilic has a 1-6 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Federer
• Cilic is tied at 6-6 against Berdych

Cilic went 7-8 in tour-level matches by early May, prior to winning the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (d. Raonic). Now 29-13 on the season, the Croatian has gone 12-2 on grass courts in recent weeks, including a runner-up finish to Feliciano Lopez at the Aegon Championships.

Sweden is hungry for another rising star to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, and #NextGenATP player Mikael Ymer is showing that he has the tools to achieve this with his run this week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bastad.

The 18 year old delighted the home crowd on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over second seed Renzo Olivo of Argentina to reach his first Challenger semi-final of the year. Ymer passed through the qualifying rounds in just one of the six Challenger events he’s played this season, but made full use of a wild card to produce an inspired run.

“It feels great. I haven’t had the best Challenger year, so I’ve been trying to find my game and now it’s paying off,” said Ymer. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think I can achieve very good stuff.

“Maybe it’s that I have the support of the crowd, but it’s a nice feeling playing at home,” he added. “You know all the restaurants and that the food is good, we’re staying in a house, my family and friends are here. It’s just a very comfortable feeling.”

Ymer has already dealt with serious injuries in his young career. He was sidelined for nine months with a hip injury before returning to the court this past August. He reached the semi-finals of his second tournament back at the Challenger in Rome, then dropped just three games against Fernando Verdasco this past October for his first ATP World Tour main draw win in Stockholm. He also teamed up with his brother, Elias Ymer, to take the doubles title at that event.

The teenager admitted that the expectations from his performance in Stockholm got into his head, but that he’s finally been able to block them out.

“Because I did well very early in my comeback last year, people were expecting me to do the same thing this time,” he said. “I’ve been able to put that pressure away the past couple of weeks, though, and just play for myself, not anyone else.”

Currently No. 398 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Ymer will move to a new career-high ranking when the newest standings are released on Monday. The Swede is aiming to crack the Top 300 as soon as possible and continue climbing from there.

“I still haven’t been able to compete as much as I’d like and am not in my peak shape, but am playing a bit better with each match. It’s very tough out there and there are a lot of good players. That was the main difference coming from the juniors to Challengers. You need to be ready to compete in every match,” said Ymer. “When you’re away for a long time, it takes a few weeks to get used to competing at this level again. I think I’m in a good rhythm now, though.”

It will be a semi-final full of firsts when seventh seed Marin Cilic and 24^th seed Sam Querrey kick off semi-final Friday at The Championships on Centre Court. Both Cilic and Querrey will be playing in their first Wimbledon semi-final.

Cilic, who had lost in the quarter-finals the past three years, broke through in a five-set battle against the big-serving left-hander Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who had advanced past Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, 15-13 in the fifth set.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head & vote for who you think will win!

Querrey also had to work for his maiden Wimbledon semi-final, outlasting World No. 1 and two-time champion Andy Murray in five sets in the quarter-finals. Querrey became the first player to win three consecutive five-set matches at Wimbledon since Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in 2007.

“It’s a really big deal. For me, it’s my first semi-final. To beat Andy, to have it be at Wimbledon, was even a little more special,” Querrey said. “I feel good. My body feels great.”

Players to win five-set matches in three consecutive rounds at Wimbledon (Open Era)

Cilic, though, unlike Querrey, has Grand Slam semi-final experience. The 6’6” Croatian fell at 2010 Australian Open to Andy Murray and at 2015 US Open to Novak Djokovic. But at 2014 US Open, Cilic outplayed Roger Federer in the semi-final and went on to beat Kei Nishikori for his maiden Grand Slam crown.

“Winning the US Open has helped me in all of these Grand Slams I have played so far, and I believe it will for the rest of my career. Preparation-wise, I believe in my own abilities. I believe coming to these stages of the tournament, I’m still going to be able to play great tennis. I know I have it in me that I can win. That’s extremely important,” Cilic said. “Sam hasn’t been at this part of the tournament so far. Maybe that can have a small part in the match. But I don’t think it’s going to matter big time.”

Cilic leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-0, but all four matches have gone the distance, save for their most recent, at 2015 Washington, when Cilic edged the American 7-6(2), 7-6(3).

Their 2012 third-round meeting at Wimbledon remains the second longest men’s singles match in Wimbledon history. Cilic won the fifth set 17-15 in a match that lasted five hours and 31 minutes.

“Most of the matches were very tight, quite long, especially here,” Cilic said. “I think Sam played really well this year and last year at Wimbledon. He’s got a big game that can hurt anyone in the game. For me, I have to get ready and be very focused on my own game.”

Croatian players in Grand Slam finals (Open Era)

Franulovic and Pilic are both Croatian-born but represented Yugoslavia throughout their careers

Querrey backed up his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final run, 2016 Wimbledon, by doing one better this fortnight. If he extends his dream run to the final, he would become the first 24^th seed to reach a Grand Slam final. The California native is just the fourth No. 24 seed to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam tournament – after Sjeng Schalken at the 2002 US Open, Tommy Haas at 2009 Wimbledon and Jerzy Janowicz at 2013 Wimbledon.

Querrey is also bidding to become the first American man to reach a Grand Slam final since Andy Roddick finished runner-up at the All England Club in 2009.

“I’m going to go out there and try to keep doing what I’ve been doing these last five matches, and hopefully that will be good enough to win,” Querrey said.

The winner will top the list for the most attempts before reaching the final at Wimbledon in the Open Era, ahead of Patrick Rafter, who reached the final on his eighth appearance at SW19. This is Cilic’s 11^th Wimbledon appearance and Querrey’s 10^th.

Most attempts before reaching first Wimbledon final (Open Era)

Should Querrey win on Friday and reach his first Grand Slam final on his 42^nd appearance at a major, he would also join David Ferrer at the top of the list for most attempts before reaching the final at a major in the Open Era.

Most attempts before reaching first Grand Slam final (Open Era)

Some notes and stats courtesy of ITF.

The last time Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer met late in the second week of The Championships, Federer could barely be stopped at Wimbledon. The Swiss right-hander was attempting to reach his eighth consecutive final and win his seventh title at the All England Club.

But Berdych summoned some of his best tennis and denied Federer those opportunities, hitting the Swiss off the court during their 2010 quarter-final. Now all Berdych needs to do is repeat that performance under similar circumstances when they take Centre Court following Friday’s first quarter-final.

“It’s hard to compare… After so many years, I have so much more experience from that time and everything,” Berdych said, looking back at his 2010 win. “Let’s see. It’s going to be interesting.”

View FedEx ATP Head2Head & vote for who you think will win!

This fortnight, Federer has again looked unbeatable on the grass. The 35 year old has yet to drop a set and has hardly looked troubled. In his closest contest, a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) quarter-final win against 2016 finalist Milos Raonic, Federer won 90 per cent of his first-serve points (55/61) and struck 46 winners to only nine unforced errors. Wednesday’s match was also the longest he’s been on court – only one hour and 58 minutes.

“I’m playing very well. I’m rested. I’m fresh. I’m confident, too,” Federer said.

The third seed will try to check off a variety of historical marks when he plays in his 12^th Wimbledon semi-final (10-1). Federer is trying to become the second oldest man to a reach a Wimbledon final in the Open Era.

Oldest men to reach Grand Slam final (Open Era)

*Player ages are calculated at the end of the tournament

Federer is looking to reach his 11^th Wimbledon final and extend the all-time record that he took sole ownership of at 2012 Wimbledon.

Wimbledon finals reached (all-time)

The right-hander is also looking to reach his 29th Grand Slam final and extend the all-time record that he took sole ownership of at 2009 Wimbledon. Federer has a 28-13 win-loss record in Grand Slam semi-finals.

Grand Slam finals reached (all-time)

One record that Federer has already achieved is most Wimbledon semi-final appearances. The Basel native now stands alone atop the list.

No. of Wimbledon semi-finals (Open Era)

“He’s a really exceptional tennis player… I think he’s the greatest of them all. It’s a great challenge to actually have the opportunity to play him,” Berdych said.

The 6’5” right-hander will be looking to make his own history when he attempts to reach his second Wimbledon final and equal his best Grand Slam performance.

Berdych is bidding to join Ivan Lendl as the only Czech men in the Open Era to reach multiple Wimbledon finals. Jan Kodes is the only other Czech man to have reached the Wimbledon final. Kodes is the only Czech Wimbledon men’s singles champion, having won the title in 1973 by defeating Alex Metreveli.

Czech men in Wimbledon final (Open Era)

Berdych has had to battle more so than Federer to make the semi-finals. The 11^th seed was pushed to four sets in his first- (d. Chardy) and second-round (d. Harrison) wins. In the fourth round, Berdych needed five sets to upset eighth seed Dominic Thiem 6-3 in the fifth. On Wednesday, though, Berdych competed for only 63 minutes since Novak Djokovic retired down 7-6(2), 2-0 in the second set.

“I’m probably in the best possible situation I can be right now. I had a pretty good run so far… Really, I cannot be in a better position before Friday’s match,” Berdych said.

Some notes and statistics courtesy of ITF.