Roger Federer got a little disappointed today when he found out it isn’t the first time he’s reached the Wimbledon final without dropping a set.
He had actually done it twice before – in 2006 and 2008.
“Twice before? You see, I don’t know everything about my whole career. It would have been nice to make this the first one actually. I’m a little bit disappointed about that,” the Swiss said, sounding only half-sarcastic.
Federer booked himself a spot in a record 11th Wimbledon final with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over Tomas Berdych and will be gunning for more history when he takes on Marin Cilic in the Sunday final.
“It makes me really happy, marking history here at Wimbledon. It’s a big deal. I love this tournament. All my dreams came true here as a player. To have another chance to go for number eight now, be kind of so close now at this stage, is a great feeling,” said the 18-time Grand Slam champion.
“Yeah, unbelievably excited. I hope I can play one more good match. 11 finals here, all these records, it’s great. But it doesn’t give me the title quite yet. That’s why I came here this year. I’m so close now, so I just got to stay focused.”
Berdych naturally fielded questions about Federer’s unfathomable longevity in his press conference, but what the Czech probably did not expect is getting asked about his shoes.
The adidas-sponsored Berdych was wearing a shoe that had Novak Djokovic’s face on the tongue of it. It is the ‘adidas Barricade 7 Novak Pro’.
Berdych had a simple explanation when quizzed about why he was wearing them.
“That’s right. I’m wearing Novak shoes because the other shoes just doesn’t fit well to me, so that’s why I have to play in the shoes that they are fitting well and doesn’t hurt my feet,” said Berdych.
A journalist, who apparently arrived late to the press conference, asked the same question again moments later.
“Did you come late?” Berdych asked. Then was kind of enough to repeat his answer.
Hear him roar: Marin Cilic.
Cilic battled past Sam Querrey 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5 despite trailing the American by a break in the fourth to enter his first Slam final since winning the US Open in 2014.
The Croat beat Federer en route to that New York breakthrough, and despite being in clinical form, Cilic is aware of the challenge he has ahead of him.
He held match points against the Swiss in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year before losing to Federer in five sets.
“I believe this is his (Roger’s) home court, place where he feels the best and knows that he can play the best game,” said Cilic. “Obviously I’m going to look back, as well, 12 months ago I was one point away from winning a match over here against him. Definitely I believe that if I’m going to be playing him, in my own abilities to get through and to win it.
“But I still know that it’s a big mountain to climb. Roger is playing maybe one of his best tennis of his career at the moment, having a great season. So I know it’s going to be a huge challenge. But I believe I’m ready.”
Querrey is the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2009 to reach a Slam semi-final and can leave Wimbledon with lots of positives. One particular journalist gave him a reason to be optimistic about the future.
“Quarters last year, semis, this year, what about next year?” asked a journalist.
“Pencil me in for a final, and hopefully that will happen,” joked Querrey.
