Roger Federer took another step to be called the greatest sportsperson of all time by reaching the men’s singles final of Wimbledon.
The 35-year-old Swiss is one win from a record eighth Wimbledon title after beating Czech 11th seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets in the semi-finals. He’s also a couple of hours away from a 19th Grand Slam singles crown.
Jack Nicklaus, golf’s greatest, won 18 Majors. This is the territory we are in.
Federer 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 No 7 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 Grand Slam final after winning the 2014 US Open.
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.
Federer had won his past seven matches against Berdych, and 18 of 24 in all, but the Czech made him work for No 19.
There were just three breaks of serve over two hours and 18 minutes, two for Federer, who hit 53 winners to Berdych’s 31 in a high-quality contest.
Earlier, 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.
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.
