Federer in 11th Wimbledon final
July 14, 2017
Swiss legend Roger Federer has reached a record 11th Wimbledon final after beating Thomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 in Friday's semifinal.
He will face Marin Cilic in the final on Sunday in what will be the Croat's first ever Wimbledon final.
Federer, 35, took six months out of the game last year and seems to have benefited from his short hiatus, overpowering his valiant Czech challenger in two tie-breaks to take a two-set lead.
No tie-break was needed in the third however, Federer breaking in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead and he never looked back, closing the match out at 6-4 to become the oldest man since Ken Rosewall in 1978.
A new final opponent
Federer may have played ten Wimbledon finals in his career but he has never face Cilic in one.
The Croatian seventh seed was able to bounce back and defeat American Sam Querrey 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in Friday's first semifinal.
Cilic and Querrey, both playing in their first Wimbledon semi, matched each other game for game for most of the match, but a couple of unforced errors from Querrey handed Cilic a crucial tie-break in the third set.
Querrey, who eliminated world number one Andy Murray on Wednesday, had only three break point opportunities in the match. He heads out of the tournament still trying to reach his first Grand Slam final.
The seventh seeded Cilic, 28, will play in his second Grand Slam final of his career - the 2014 US Open is his sole Grand Slam title. He had lost in the quarterfinals in the previous three Wimbledon tournaments coming into this year.