As Roger Federer and Marin Cilic prepare to face-off in the Wimbledon 2017 final on Sunday, it'll be good to review their previous encounter. Federer and Cilic squared off in the quarter-final of Wimbledon 2016 and what a classic five-setter it was!
The Croatian had demolished the Swiss Champion in their encounter, previous to this one. That was in the semi-final of the US Open 2014 where Cilic simply destroyed Federer in straight sets on his way to his maiden Grand Slam title. Federer of course, remembered this and he mentioned how "he was blown away" by Cilic, in the press conference after his 4th round win over Steve Johnson. He specifically mentioned how Cilic had improved his serve considerably (see press conference video) and this was in ample display in the first two sets of their quarter-final encounter. Federer was unable to get any read on the Cilic serve as the tall Croatian quickly went up 2 sets to love. Then, the decisive, match-turning moment came in the 7th game of the 3rd set. The 7-time champion had his backs to the wall as he was serving at 0-40, virtually three match points down, given the way Cilic was serving. He somehow managed to extricate himself out of that situation with guts and grit. Then, with the momentum swinging back to his side, the Swiss broke Cilic in the very next game and held on to take the third set 6-3. The biggest difference now, was that Federer was able to read Cilic's serve and he was beginning to look comfortable with the pace of the serve as well as the power of Cilic's groundstrokes.
The 4th set was a mini-classic as both players upped their respective games. Serving at 1-2, Federer made a couple of errors from either wing to go down 15-40. He once again summoned his inner-genius to hit a few unreturnable serves (including a few second serves) and hold for 2-2. In the very next game, Cilic faced a similar situation. When 15-40 down, the Croatian sent down 4 consecutive aces to hold and pay tribute to his coach, Goran Ivanisevic. Serving at 4-5, 30-40, the Swiss saved the first match point of the day. Then at 5-6, 30-40, Federer saved another match point. The inevitable tie-break arrived and it was no less dramatic than the entire 4th set. Serving at 6-4, Federer had two set points, but Cilic won three straight points to earn his 3rd match point. The tension was palpable as a big second serve again saved Federer. The Swiss finally won the 4th set tie-break 12-10 to level the match.
The first half of the 5th set had lesser intensity as compared to the 4th set as both players held on to their service games. Serving at 3-4, 30-40, Cilic saved the 2nd break point of the set via a forehand winner but couldn't save the third as he sent a forehand fractionally wide. Serving for the match at 5-3, Federer decided that he'd had enough of drama as he closed out the match with an ace.
It was just an incredible match (see my short Facebook post after the match) and one of the best comeback wins by Federer over his career. He would go on to lose in the semi-final against Milos Raonic and an injury sustained in the 5th set of that match, convinced the Swiss to call time on his 2016 season. He's currently tied with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw, for the most number of Wimbledon titles (7), and would be acutely aware that breaking away from this pack won't be easy against an in-form Cilic on Sunday. Fingers crossed for a high-quality encounter; another pulsating 5-setter won't be bad at all!
The Croatian had demolished the Swiss Champion in their encounter, previous to this one. That was in the semi-final of the US Open 2014 where Cilic simply destroyed Federer in straight sets on his way to his maiden Grand Slam title. Federer of course, remembered this and he mentioned how "he was blown away" by Cilic, in the press conference after his 4th round win over Steve Johnson. He specifically mentioned how Cilic had improved his serve considerably (see press conference video) and this was in ample display in the first two sets of their quarter-final encounter. Federer was unable to get any read on the Cilic serve as the tall Croatian quickly went up 2 sets to love. Then, the decisive, match-turning moment came in the 7th game of the 3rd set. The 7-time champion had his backs to the wall as he was serving at 0-40, virtually three match points down, given the way Cilic was serving. He somehow managed to extricate himself out of that situation with guts and grit. Then, with the momentum swinging back to his side, the Swiss broke Cilic in the very next game and held on to take the third set 6-3. The biggest difference now, was that Federer was able to read Cilic's serve and he was beginning to look comfortable with the pace of the serve as well as the power of Cilic's groundstrokes.
The 4th set was a mini-classic as both players upped their respective games. Serving at 1-2, Federer made a couple of errors from either wing to go down 15-40. He once again summoned his inner-genius to hit a few unreturnable serves (including a few second serves) and hold for 2-2. In the very next game, Cilic faced a similar situation. When 15-40 down, the Croatian sent down 4 consecutive aces to hold and pay tribute to his coach, Goran Ivanisevic. Serving at 4-5, 30-40, the Swiss saved the first match point of the day. Then at 5-6, 30-40, Federer saved another match point. The inevitable tie-break arrived and it was no less dramatic than the entire 4th set. Serving at 6-4, Federer had two set points, but Cilic won three straight points to earn his 3rd match point. The tension was palpable as a big second serve again saved Federer. The Swiss finally won the 4th set tie-break 12-10 to level the match.
The first half of the 5th set had lesser intensity as compared to the 4th set as both players held on to their service games. Serving at 3-4, 30-40, Cilic saved the 2nd break point of the set via a forehand winner but couldn't save the third as he sent a forehand fractionally wide. Serving for the match at 5-3, Federer decided that he'd had enough of drama as he closed out the match with an ace.
It was just an incredible match (see my short Facebook post after the match) and one of the best comeback wins by Federer over his career. He would go on to lose in the semi-final against Milos Raonic and an injury sustained in the 5th set of that match, convinced the Swiss to call time on his 2016 season. He's currently tied with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw, for the most number of Wimbledon titles (7), and would be acutely aware that breaking away from this pack won't be easy against an in-form Cilic on Sunday. Fingers crossed for a high-quality encounter; another pulsating 5-setter won't be bad at all!
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