Even Murray’s rollercoaster victory couldn’t overshadow Federer’s latest Wimbledon heroics as he came from two sets down to win for the 10th time in his glittering career.
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The 25-year-old Canadian reached his first grass-court final ahead of Wimbledon, losing to Andy Murray at Queen’s Club.
Federer completed a stunning comeback from two sets down to win the match 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 and reach the semi-final.
Federer had to save match points on two different occasions, before turning on the screws and running away with the match in the fifth set.
A repeat of that straight-sets humiliation suffered by Federer at Flushing Meadows almost two years ago looked on the cards after Cilic won a lopsided first-set tiebreak then broke early in the second to take a stunning two-sets-to-love lead.
He now goes on to face Milos Raonic in the semi-finals after the Canadian put an end to the surprise run of Novak Djokovic’s third-round conqueror, Sam Querrey, in four sets.
After taking the first two sets in style, 2014 US Open champion Cilic allowed Federer to hold from 0-40 down at 3-3 in the third.
Raonic, beaten by Federer in the 2014 Wimbledon semifinals, declared: “I’m happy that I have another shot at him”.
The third seed and perennial Centre Court favourite, Federer would fight back and grab the third set, but is on the roped in the fourth.
Roger Federer entered into the quarter-finals to keep his chase for 18th Grand Slam titles on track. The video review found it to be in by a sliver, giving Federer a 5-3 lead and two serves on his racket.
Murray lost to Federer in the 2012 final at Wimbledon, then won the trophy a year later, the first British man to do since Fred Perry in 1936.
Roger Federer celebrates winning the fourth set in his match against Croatia’s Marin Cilic. It was an emotional win, always [is] when you come back from two sets to love. Querrey was trying to become the first American to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in 2009 at Wimbledon. Plenty of work remained: those match points in the fourth set, all on Federer’s serve.
In the next game, Cilic double-faulted to let Federer break for the first time, and soon the 17-time major champion was shaking his right fist, celebrating.
That match is first out on Centre Court on Friday afternoon, however, meaning that Murray and Berdych will know exactly what awaits by the time they step out onto the court. It means that the Swiss tennis star, who’s now 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.
Indeed, he did. When he capped his escape with a pair of aces at 126 miles per hour and 115 miles per hour, the third-seeded Federer thrust both arms overhead and violently wagged his right index finger.
Meanwhile, 10th seed Tomas Berdych cruised past Lucas Pouille in straight sets, he gets Murray next.
Federer is chasing a record eighth Wimbledon singles title.
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Federer is bidding to be the second-oldest man in tennis history to win a grand slam, behind Australia’s Ken Rosewal (37). “It can help to go through games and stages in matches that are challenging”, said Murray, who recently reunited with Ivan Lendl, his coach when he won his two major trophies. With Berdych, there is a question of whether he can finally start closing tournaments out, but it just isn’t a big head scratcher since we’ve seen so much of him over the last seven years.
