Live Wimbledon Final: Federer vs. Cilic

Third-seeded Swiss and seven-time former champion Roger Federer leads seventh seed Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday in the final of The Championships at Wimbledon.

Should Federer win his fifth title of the season – and his 19th Grand Slam championship crown – he will join Rafael Nadal as a qualifier for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Cilic is attempting to add to his 2014 US Open crown.

First Set
Federer won the coin toss and elected to receive, perhaps out to ambush and capitalise on the early nerves of Cilic. But it was the Croatian who was unable to convert the first break point opportunity at 2-1, with Federer serving at 30/40, when he struck a backhand return into the net. Federer began to slow the pace of each rally down mid-set and won 11 of 13 points for a 4-2 lead. Cilic continued to struggle with his first delivery and at 3-5 hit his second double fault to hand Federer the 37-minute opener.

Second Set
Federer, one of the sport’s great frontrunners, won five straight games from a 4-3 lead in the first set to a 3-0 advantage in the second set, when Cilic called for on-court treatment and appeared to be distressed. Three straight groundstroke errors from Cilic at 0-1, when leading 30/15 – including one forehand and two backhand errors – saw Federer seize total control of his 11th Wimbledon final. When Federer forced Cilic into the net for a volley error to gain a 5-1 lead, fellow multiple Wimbledon champions Rod Laver and Stefan Edberg – both watching from the Royal Box – nodded approvingly at how the Swiss has dismantled Cilic’s power-dominated game. Federer hit his third ace, in a love hold, for a two sets lead.