Wimbledon 2017: Roger Federer through to face Marin Cilic in final
| Wimbledon 2017 on the BBC |
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| Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
| Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and app. Click for full times. |
Roger Federer is one win from a historic eighth Wimbledon title after beating Czech 11th seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the semi-final.
The Swiss, 35, won 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to reach his 11th Wimbledon final, having last won the title back in 2012.
He will face Croatia’s Marin Cilic after the seventh seed beat American 24th seed Sam Querrey 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 on Centre Court.
Cilic, 28, is into his second major final after winning the 2014 US Open.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Cilic, the second Croat to reach the men’s final after Goran Ivanisevic won in 2001.
“The way this tournament has unfolded I’ve been playing really great tennis.”
Federer has already added to his lengthy list of achievements by reaching a record 29th Grand Slam final, becoming the second-oldest man to do so after the 39-year-old Ken Rosewall reached the 1974 Wimbledon final.
Having waited five years to win his 18th major title at this year’s Australian Open, the Swiss could make it 19 just six months later.
Cilic return gives him the edge
Querrey, 29, had played three successive five-set matches to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final, and almost forced a fourth before Cilic finally saw off the American’s challenge.
Both men had more than 100 aces to their name heading into the semi-finals, and it was the Croat who had more success in breaking down the big serve.
Cilic won more than twice as many points on return and earned 14 break points to Querrey’s three, but the American saved 10 and was two service holds from taking it to a fifth set.
He edged the first set from 4-1 down in the tie-break before Cilic earned the first break of the match at 3-3 on his way to levelling at one set all.
The match was over two hours old before two loose shots from Querrey – a backhand error followed by a forehand into the net – separated the pair in the third set tie-break.
The pair’s previous meeting at Wimbledon in 2012 lasted over five hours and finished 17-15 to Cilic in the fifth set, and when a wayward Cilic smash helped Querrey move ahead in the fourth, another final set seemed inevitable.
However, Cilic played a fine game to level at 4-4 with a drop volley and an attacking return of serve, and avoided the need for a third tie-break when he earned two match points at 6-5 and found a forehand winner on the second.
“Sam was playing high-level tennis, especially in the first set,” added Cilic.
“I was 4-1 up in the tie-break and didn’t convert. After that I was better in the return games. I thought the level was really high.”