Roger Federer is through to his 11th Wimbledon final and is one victory away from an eighth career title at the All-England Club. Federer put himself in prime position to lift the trophy yet again after defeating Tomas Berdych 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-4 during semifinal action on Friday. The Swiss struck 13 aces and served at 67 percent while advancing in two hours and 18 minutes.
In terms of number of games, this was Federer’s most competitive match of the fortnight. Still, the world No. 5 has not yet dropped a single set because he continued to raise his level in crucial moments. Federer took each of the first two tiebreakers without much trouble against the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up.
The 35-year-old avoided a trio of ‘breakers by earning a scalp of Berdych’s serve at 3-3 in the third. He held his next two service games both at love to clinch the win in style.
“I thought it was close,” Federer commented. “Even though I feel like it reminded me of the matches I’ve had this tournament on some occasions, there were chances for the opponent. I was able to come up with the goods when it mattered. The ‘breakers…I played good in the ‘breakers. (I) never played with any sense of panic, which is so important when it gets to crunch time.
“So, yeah, it was the toughest match. I guess so, yes. It was close. I’m happy I won all these big points today.”
Berdych was not quite as sure about his competitiveness.
“Close or far doesn’t really matter,” the Czech explained. “The score is important, and that shows pretty much straightforward.”
As usual, there was nothing straightforward about another Wimbledon showdown between Marin Cilic and Sam Querrey. Their third head-to-head matchup at the All-England seemed destined to become their third five-setter, but Cilic made a late charge to seal the deal 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-5 in two hours and 56 minutes.
Contesting his first Grand Slam semifinal after falling in the Wimbledon quarters last summer, Querrey led 4-2 in the fourth with a chance to take it to five. But the 6’6” American got broken from 30-0 up at 4-3 and Cilic struck again for victory with a forehand winner as Querrey at 5-6, 30-40.
“I would say my mental toughness was on an extremely high level, considering that both of us played amazing tennis in the first set,” the Croat said of bouncing from his early deficit. “The level was absolutely unbelievable from both ends. Then just to come short in that tiebreak, I was 4-1 up, and Sam made a few good points. I was a little bit unlucky on a few challenges. Lost that set.
“But I managed to regroup and felt that mentally in the critical situations I was really good, even having a break down in that fourth set. I managed to turn it around. I would say I played throughout the match really a high level.”
“Marin is just really good,” Querrey assessed. “I mean, he’s tough on both sides. I kind of felt like he pushed me around a little bit today. I had that break in the fourth. When he broke me back, he just played a great game. You know, kind of deflated me a little bit. But he just does everything really well.”
Cilic will have to do that again on Sunday when he faces Federer for the title. It is a rematch of a memorable quarterfinal last summer, won by Federer after he trailed two sets to love.
[polldaddy poll=9789001]
This would be an exciting match!
Nobody should miss it.
The last 2 meetings between this two incredible player’s hasn’t been easy for Roger Federer, I like R. Federer but he needs to be extra careful.
M. Cilic will be playing with less pressure and will be encouraged by his recent encounters with Federer.
I would like to see a new men’s GS title benchmark. Fed would deserve the title given his beautiful game and mastery. I sense whoever wins would be straight set matters.
I don’t think it’s that straight forward, it’ll most likely be four or five sets.
I believe R. Federer would win but if M. Cilic wins( this would extremely difficult) he won’t win in 3 sets, maybe 5 or 4 sets.
But my pick is R. Federer in 4 sets.
Are you sure its R. Federer not his long lost cousin B. Federer?
2010 and 2011 were about Rafa and Novak winning Wimbles and I really thought Fed was out of the conversation, lol, his last Wimbledon win was 2009.
Then the shock of 2012 came along! For me, that HAD to be the last – it was an odd result. Confirmed in 2013 when he lost to Stakhovsky – Fed was done winning Wimbledon or any GS.
But he came back stronger in 2014 and came close to beating Novak at Wimbles! That was unbelievable for me. 2015 he made it to the final again, losing in 4 sets to Novak. Then last year, in an off year for him, he made the SF. Federer has really been out there trying — have to give him that. Saying he really wants this eighth Wimbledon is an understatement. He has been right up there since 2014 = into his mid-thirties fighting for another Wimbles.
He’s going to battle hard. But Cilic is no Berdych. Cilic comes out and gets the first set, Fed wins a tie break in the second, Cilic wins the third set easily, Federer wins the fourth set – no tie break, and the fifth set goes on and on …both fight tooth and nail. I don’t see the winner — anything less than 5 sets will be a disappointment. This should be a fight to the death, so to speak. If Federer loses, he keeps trying until he’s 39. If Federer wins, he will keep trying and trying to get one more GS because nothing less than 20 will do.
That’s complete speculation 😀 I don’t know who will win. Voted Cilic in 5. My picks have not been good this Wimbledon — in atp or wta.
Well Ratcliff, it took Fed seven years to win another AO when the last time he won there was in 2010,so anything is possible.
Fedal have played for a long long time in the tour and they may outlast many others, they are still going strong so the possibility of winning slams will be there.
Picking Cilic in 5 is definitely an understandable pick! I honestly never know what to expect anymore with these matches. This year I feel like we always want to think that the other great players, some who have won slams i.e. Cilic and Stan, will give Fed and Rafa runs for their money in the big matches, but they all seem to come up short this season. That’s the only reason why I’m reluctant to expect a good match. Everyone thought that Thiem and Stan could at least get a set off Rafa at RG or just make it competitive, but they didn’t. People expected Raonic and Berdych to at least push Fed to 4 sets, but that didn’t happen. I know that Cilic has beat Fed at a major and is a little better than Berdych, but I don’t think he’s THAT much better… Berdych has had considerably more success against the Big 4 at the majors than Cilic. Let’s face it, after beating Fed in the Quarters and Djokovic in the semis at Wimbledon in 2010, if Berdych had faced a Nishikori-level player in the final instead of Rafa, he would be a major champion like Cilic is… Anyway, so I would love for Sunday to be a classic match, but we have just been let down so much this season when other good players go up against Fed and Rafa at Wimby and RG, respectively. We shall see!
Berdy always comes up short against the big boys, even against Stan too. Stan has beaten all the big four in slams – Nadal at AO, Fed at FO, Djoko at AO, FO and USO, and Murray at FO and USO.
Perhaps Berdy could take a leaf out of Stan’s book and learn from him how he handles those big four guys at the slams. Perhaps it’s Stan’s unwavering belief in his own strength when he’s at the slams, perhaps it’s his relentless hard hitting which he could sustain all match long; Berdy should really do something to improve his game and his chances at the slams before its too late for him.
It’s funny that you bring up Stan, because I found myself thinking as I watched Berdy play Fed that if he had only found a coach like Magnus Norman to give him the belief that he could beat the top players, maybe he could have a late resurgence. Stan has said that Norman gave him the belief that he could beat the top players. He had the game, but not the confidence or mental strength.
I think if Berdy could have found someone like that then maybe he could win matches like this. I know he beat Fed but that was seven years ago. Victories against the top four have been few and far between.
Hi NNY,
I feel the problem for Berdy is not only mental, I feel there’s something missing in his game. I feel what he lacks is court craft, the understanding of what shots to use, where to place them, when to move forward to the net and when not to, etc and etc. I also think that he has relatively poor reflexes compared to the other top guys. I feel Tsonga has a better game than Berdych but with less consistency (plus Tsonga has more injury issues).
Berdych has improved his footwork, his mobility on the tennis court, that’s encouraging; his serve is already top class, it’s just that it’s affected by his nerve. Imo, he really needs someone to work with him on the strategies, the game plans, the shot selections, how to read the game and anticipates better his opponent’s next move, and also works on his reflexes if possible.
He really looked/looks one dimensional out there; even though he tried to move forward to the net, tried to take the point early but he was either too late, or not hitting the right shot or simply made an error when he’s there.
Perhaps a good coach could help him solve all these issues or at least some of them and helps him improve his game. If he can’t improve his net approach or net game and volleying etc, at least works on improving his baseline game, that of hitting well his CC and DTL shots, knowing when to use which, and works on improving his shots when on the run.
If he can’t improve on or correct his weaknesses, at least work on making his strength even stronger, at least he may have a chance to overpower his opponents when everything else fails. He has the firepower like Stan, but Stan has the consistency to hit overpowering shots after shots to overwhelm his opponent(s).
Tsonga has the deft touches and the court sense of knowing when and how to move forward to play at the net, if Tsonga can work harder and plays at a consistently good level, I think he may have a better chance at a slam than Berdych has.
Lucky,
Thanks for your response. I think Stan always had the game to beat the top four. In his case, I think that gettIng the right coach got him to the next level.
In Berdy’s case he seems to need more help. From what you said in your analysis of the issues with his game, he may need more specific help with court strategy, net game and when to hit certain shots.
Tsonga has his strengths but has been injury prone and lacking in consistency. When Tsonga is on his game then he can be dangerous.
It was just a thought that went through my head while watching Berdy. But I think you made some good points that indicate he needs more than just a coach.
Fed in 4 ….but i will be happy to see cilic lift the trophy.
Fed in 3 easy bet.
I honestly cannot guess who will win. Probably Fed. But from hindsight I think it’s fair to say this: from all players who started at Wimby 2017 Cilic is the one opponent who is most dangerous for Fed and who is most likely to make it a match. Before they were eliminated I thought that Murray and the Djoker might seriously trouble Fed. And if they had been healthy they probably would’ve done so. But we know now that they weren’t physically healthy. Their problems weren’t just mental.
As to Rafa: even if he had won his match against Müller – and he certainly could’ve won – it’s not clear if he would’ve made it past Cilic.
I think that from both halfs of the draw the two strongest players made it into the final. Hopefully we will see a good match! At RG many thought that Stan would be able to trouble Rafa. Didn’t happen. Hopefully Cilic will do better.
I hope Cilic will do well and makes it a match too. It will be an anticlimax, if after all the hard fought matches to arrive at the final, he then loses tamely.
Little foot, before Wimbledon started, I had a discussion with Hawkeye, about who is the most likely candidate to challenge Fed at Wimbledon for the title; I told him Cilic. I’m glad Cilic has proven that I’m right, and Cilic is my second favorite player all these years. I’m hoping he wins his second slam while not at Rafa’s expense, so happy he has a chance of doing so here.
BTW, do you know what happened to Hawkeye, he hasn’t posted here since Wimbledon starts. I had a tiff with him for a while and had ignored all his posts for a period of time even though he kept responding to my posts. Now that we had reconciled, he disappeared, I wonder what happened to him?
Lucky, I asked NNY the same thing a while ago. Hawkeye had tiffs with almost all of us regulars, lol! I remember the strange discussion whether Novak was back or not 😉 I have been away for a bit more than a week and noticed that not only Hawkeye but also Mary had disappeared. I wondered if Ricky had banned them or put them under moderation for some reason. But NNY said that hawkeye might’ve decided to take a break.
Let’s hope everybody is fine.
Ok thanks for the info, littlefoot.
Lucky, why is Cilic your second favorite player? I’m just curious. He is sooo different from Rafa. I have nothing at all against him. He is quiet and polite, but he doesn’t have exactly a sparkling personality. Of course he is a terrific player. If he had have a stronger mentality he could’ve won a lot more. You know probably much more about him than I do. I was elated when he won the US Open, mainly because at the time Ivanisevic was his coach and I simply love Crazy Goran 😉
As to the doping ban: while I thought that the ban was justified because Cilic had been so stupid, I believe his explanation, that it was an error because his mother had mixed up the names of two medications. Tignor wrote a long article about it and pointed out that the names were very similar indeed. And if Cilic really had decided to dope with such a relatively harmless stimulant, which is even legal during training sessions, he could’ve easily avoided a positive test. I think it was a correct decision to give him a ban but to reduce the time he had to do. Unfortunately a lot of people still bring up this story. But then again, I think Cilic developed very positively after that time-out. His results became better – as if he had grown up and decided to make the most of his talents.
Cilic seems like one of the nicest guys on tour so I don’t think he really purposely doped. If he did I don’t really care I like him and his game. I root for him in most matches. I remember I went to the Cincinatti semis last year and watched him and Dimitrov play from one of the front rows because it was 11:30 at night so there weren’t too many people there. Most were for Grigor because he is more of a fan favorite I guess but I was yelling LETS GO MARIN so much that I got like half the crowd on his side ? Probably the most high quality match I’ve been to live in terms of pure ball striking.
Benny, as I said above, I also don’t believe that Cilic wanted to dope. He was probably just careless and made an error. But I don’t think this has anything to do with a person being nice or not. Tyler Hamilton was one of the nicest guys ever to ride a bike, but he still doped….
In the end we don’t know the player and their motivations.
So, the women have a brand new Wimby champion. Maybe, the men’s final will produce another one 🙂
I’m not very surprised, though. I expected Muguruza to win. Congrats!
Littlefoot, Cilic wasn’t always my second fave player; before that there’s Davydenko who sadly retired in 2011 or 2012. I like Davydenko because of his clean ball striking, and when he’s at his best (as in 2009 WTF when he won the title), he was almost unstoppable – he beat Delpo in that final and Delpo simply had no answer, calling Davy’s play Power Station play! He had Fed on the rope too at AO2010 QF, and Fed had to resort to a longer than usual toilet break to break Davy’s momentum. I felt that had Davy put in more efforts in winning slams, that AO2010 tournament title was within reach if he managed to beat Fed. Davy was also humorous and yet low keyed (nobody bothered about him anyway, it’s all about Fedal and to a lesser extent Djoko and then Murray).
Back to Cilic, he was my no.3 fave player before being ‘promoted’ to no.2. Note that I don’t really stick with one particular type or style of players, my likings are more varied than to limit myself to one style of play. However, I always like nice guys, low keyed, humble and a bit shy, not the guys with flamboyant styles, or attention seeking personalities. Rafa and Marin are two of the nicest guys in the tour. Davy just went about doing and minding his own business, low keyed and didn’t care for any attention on him.
I first came to know of Marin in 2008/2009, and took notice of him when he beat up a certain Andy Murray in the fourth round of the USO, beating Murray in straight sets. He then went on to face off with Delpo in the QF, and people were comparing him to Delpo at that time, because both were 6’6″ giants, born in the same year and only 5 days apart with Delpo being the older of the two. At that time Delpo had a headstart, was more promising and more attention was given to Delpo esp after he won the USO that year.
Marin Cilic went on to beat our dear Rafa in the SF of Beijing Open that year and lost to Djoko in the final. At the following year AO, he went through the draw beating the local boy wonder Tomic in five sets till late at night, managed to take revenge on Delpo in R4 again in five sets, beat Roddick in the QF in another five setter before losing in four sets to Murray in the SF.
His ranking moved up to top ten after that but sadly he couldn’t take the pressure with the attention given to him at that time and so did poorly after that and his ranking fell. At that time his coach was Bob Brett and I thought Marin had a better game than Delpo, who basically hit hard from the baseline and was lumbering around the court, compared to Marin’s nimbler movements and Marin was able to play at the net too at that time.
During those days in 2009/2010, it was looking like the giants were going to dominate the tour and challenged the big four – Sod, Delpo, Berdy. I thought the giants all had limited games, unlike the youngest of them all Marin Cilic. I started following Marin’s career, on and off I must say as I was more worried about our Rafa during 2011-2014; during those times, Cilic had impressed me on grass, won at Queens, losing in Queens final to Murray and challenged Djoko in the QF of Wimbledon before winning a slam at USO in 2014.
The doping ban was sad, but after that he managed to pick up the pieces and started from ground zero, I think he had changed his coach to Goran just before that, and if I’m not wrong, it’s Bob Brett who accidentally spilled the beans to the press about Marin’s doping investigation.
I’m just glad that Marin has now been over all that, and overcome his injury issues after his USO triumph and is fit and healthy now and playing some good tennis. When his game is on and in the zone, it’s simply awesome to behold, not even Djoko or Fed could withstand that! His mental fragility needs improvement though, having lost so many 5 setters when he had the initial upper hands!
I’ve no other fave at the moment other than Rafa and Marin; Davy is gone and I don’t particularly like the other members of the big four; don’t mind Delpo until his comment about Rafa’s 2013 comeback (it’s as if he couldn’t believe Rafa could have such success after his six months injury break).
The other players don’t impress me much, and while I like watching tennis in general, I won’t root for anyone when Rafa and Marin are not playing, just enjoying the show without any special emotional involvements, though sometimes I hope for the underdogs to win or at least not getting embarrassing score lines esp against the top guys.
I think I’ll stop here, it’s such a long post, thanks for bearing with me.
GOAT….in 4.
I think Rog will win…but Cilic also has a very high chance…i think Cilic want to do his best this time around for the lost opportunity he had last year?I will be happy if he can bag his 2nd slam….although if Rog win,that’s fine by me as well….C’mon guys!Bring it on!!