Roger Federer into 11th Wimbledon final; faces Marin Cilic for possible 8th title
Roger Federer is here once more, back in a Wimbledon final for the 11th time, back on the verge of an eighth championship at the All England Club, more than any man has collected in the storied, century-plus history of the place.
Nearly 36, and a father of four, Federer continued his resurgent season and unchallenged run through the fortnight by conjuring just enough brilliance to beat 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Friday.
Federer has won every set he's played in this year's tournament and while he did not dominate the semifinal, he was nev er in much trouble. On Sunday, he will face 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who reached his first final at the All England Club by eliminating 24th-seeded Sam Querrey of the U.S. 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5 with the help of 25 aces and some terrific returning.
Since equaling Pete Sampras and William Renshaw (who played in the 1880s) with a seventh title at Wimbledon, Federer has come this close before to No. 8. But he lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2014 and 2015 finals.
Now he gets another chance.
Federer would be the oldest man to win Wimbledon in the Open era, which dates to 1968.
Also noteworthy: This is Federer's second major final of 2017. After taking off the last half of last year while letting a surgically repaired left knee heal, he won the Australian Open in January for his record-extending 18th Grand Slam trophy.
Now only Cilic stands in his way at Wimbledon. They met in the quarterfinals a year ago, when Federer came all the way back after dropping the first two sets to win in five.
They love their history around these parts, and they love Federer, and above all, they love watching him make history. Spectators roared at many of his best offerings against Berdych, who was seeded 11th.
Trailing 3-2 in the third set, for example, Federer faced a couple of break points at 15-40. He couldn't have done much more than he did to extricate himself from that sticky situation: ace at 107 mph, ace at 116 mph, service winner at 120 mph, ace at 119 mph.
And in the very next game, he surged to a 4-3 lead by breaking Berdych. That was pretty much that.
Marin Cilic tops Sam Querrey to make Wimbledon final
The key, for both players, was to deal with the big serve. Marin Cilic did it better.
The seventh-seeded Croat advanced to his second major final by beating Sam Querrey 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5 Friday on Centre Court. He next faces Roger Federer or Tomas Berdych in Sunday's final at the All England Club.
Cilic and Querrey, both 6-foot-6, used their powerful serves to dominate most of the match. Neither even had a break point in the first set.
“Sam came out serving huge, hitting big,†Cilic said.
Querrey, a Thousand Oaks High graduate, took the lead af ter a brief delay late in the opening tiebreaker. With the score 6-6, stewards entered the stands to attend to a woman who needed assistance. The break only lasted a couple of minutes, but Querrey won both points when play resumed, with Cilic missing a pair of backhands.
Cilic finally managed the first break of serve in the second set, and then went up another break in the third. But Querrey broke back to force another tiebreaker.
In the fourth set, it was Querrey who got an early break. But Cilic bounced back and then broke for the fourth time in the final game.
“After that [first tiebreaker], I was just a little bit better on the return games,†Cilic said. “I was making him [play more] on his service games.â€
He finished with 25 aces and won 88% of the points on his first serve. Cilic also had 70 winners and only 21 unforced errors. Querrey had 46 winners and 26 unforced errors to go with 13 aces.
Querrey, who knocked then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic out of last year’s tournament, is the first American since Andy Roddick in 2009 to advance to a Grand Slam semifinal.
Cilic is now 5-0 against Querrey and 3-0 against the American at Wimbledon. Their last match at the All England Club, in 2012, went five sets and Cilic won 17-15 in the fifth.
Cilic is the second Croat player to reach the Wimbledon final. Goran Ivanisevic won the title in 2001.
Federer, in search of an eighth Wimbledon title, was to play Berdych next on Centre Court.
Federer is 18-6 against Berdych, but the 11th-seeded Czech beat Federer in the quarterfinals during his run to the Wimbledon final in 2010.
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