Wimbledon – Roger Federer saved three match points on Wednesday and came from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic. It means that the Swiss tennis star, who’s currently ranked the world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), has reached a record-equaling 11th semi-final at the All England Club. He is set to play Canadian Milos Raonic for a place on Sunday.
The Swiss still stands a chance of an 18th grand slam title alive after beating Cilic 6-7 (4/7), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11/9), 6-3. Cilic was the one who celebrated about two years ago when he blew Federer off the Arthur Ashe Stadium court at the 2014 United States Open. Rafael Nadal was not in the competition while Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic had lost by the time Cilic and Federer played their semifinal.
Cilic won straight sets and continued to claim his first major championship. The same story was about to happen in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, which marked the first match between the two since 2014. The Croatian won 87 percent of his first-serve points but then Federer managed to set the record for Grand Slam single victories with his 307th. The Swiss tied Jimmy Connors for the record for Wimbledon victories at 84, according to The New York Times.
“A lot happened out there, Marin is such a wonderful player, I was in so much trouble in the third and then again in the fourth,” Federer expressed after the match, according to the BBC. “I couldn’t be happier because I fought well and played super great at the end, so I’m very, very pleased,” he added.
Federer continued to say that he was delighted although he felt sorry for Marin, who he thinks is one of the nicest fellow tour players. When talking about the last three sets, he said that it was encouraging for him to know that he’s getting better.
Milos Raonic had a better performance and is ready to win the tournament
Six-seeded Milos Raonic, who will face the 34-year-old Federer in the semifinals, ousted Sam Querrey, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Raonic, whose serve hit 140 miles per hour, won 87 percent of his first-serve points and faced only two break points during the match.
The 25-year-old Canadian said he considered his latest victory the best match he had had in the tournament, according to the report by The New York Times. He pointed out that he had come to Wimbledon to win.
“I think I’m definitely a step further along,” Raonic said, as quoted by the Times. “I think my attitude, my mental prowess on court has definitely improved. Hopefully, that makes a difference.”
Raonic and Federer have had 11 meetings, and the Swiss have won nine of them. The young Canadian player won the last one in the Brisbane’s final held in January and said on Wednesday that he would look at what he did well that time.
The 10th seeded Tomas Berdych defeated Lucas Pouille, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2, which means that he advanced to his sixth Grand Slam semifinal. He reached his first Wimbledon final in 2010 but lost to Rafael Nadal. Berdych is set to face whoever wins the quarter-final between Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Source: The New York Times