Wimbledon: Roger Federer beats Tomas Berdych to set up final against Marin Cilic

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  • Back in the finals: Roger Federer.

    Roger Federer made it into a fourth Wimbledon final in his last six appearances thanks to a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over 11th-seeded Tomas Berdych on Friday.

    The 35-year-old Federer reached a record 11th Wimbledon final and will be looking to claim an unprecedented eighth men’s singles trophy at the All England Club. He is yet to drop a set this fortnight.

    The No3 seed is the second-oldest man in the Open Era to reach a Wimbledon title match and will face Marin Cilic in Sunday’s finale.

    Federer took a six-month break after Wimbledon last year to get over lingering back and knee problems, and returned in January to win the Australian Open, in what was his first official event back.

    He then won Indian Wells and Miami before skipping the clay season to be best prepared for Wimbledon, and make sure he was taking care of his body.

    He won Halle in the build-up to the action at SW19 and is now one victory away from a record-extending 19th Grand Slam trophy.

    “I feel very privileged to be in another final… I can’t almost believe it’s true again,” said Federer upon stepping off the court.

    The Swiss claimed an eighth consecutive triumph over Berdych, who was looking to reach his second Wimbledon final.

    Federer broke first and opened up a 4-2 gap but Berdych pegged him back, needing three attempts to break the Swiss’ serve and draw level for 4-all.

    Federer hit a passing shot right at Berdych’s body to get another break point opportunity in game 11 but the Czech found his serve when he needed it and saved it. Berdych was attacking the net more frequently than expected but was only successful on half of those approaches thus far.

    The set fittingly went to a tiebreak, where Federer leapt to a 4-2 lead. Berdych got the mini-break through with a clever return pass that caught a net-rushing Federer off guard.

    Still Federer ran away with the breaker for a one-set lead. The second set saw no service breaks and Federer also took it in the tiebreak.

    Berdych had opportunities to break in the third, but Federer held on and jumped to a 5-3 lead.

    Serving for a place in the final, the Swiss started the game with a passing shot winner, then drew Berdych to the net with a sneaky drop shot, with the Czech netting the response. He sealed the contest three points later to put himself in a position to chase more history.

    “If you look at the other guys who are 35, 36, you can clearly see that the age and years on tour are affecting them, but not with him. He’s doing things in a very right way,” said Berdych of Federer.

    “I don’t see anything that would indicate really Roger is getting older or anything like that. I mean, I think he’s just proving his greatness in our sport.”

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