Wimbledon, Jul 17: Roger Federer, as ruthless as he had to be – and as lovely to watch as ever – took only an hour and 41 minutes to win his eighth Wimbledon title, 14 years after his first, and left his wounded opponent, Marin Cilic, in a bedazzled heap on Centre Court.
“It’s magical,” Federer said courtside. “I can’t believe it yet. It’s too much. I kept on believing and dreaming and here I am today for my eighth title. I hope to be back to defend it next year.”
Those were sweet words for his millions of followers, who must secretly wonder when the fairytale will end.
It is the Swiss’s 19th slam title, his second of the year after beating Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final, and, there is no reason to say that the youngest 35-year-old in sport cannot go on to win the final major of the year, at Flushing Meadows in September, and finish 2017 where he has spent so much time, as No1 in the world.
It would be a Federer grand slam, of sorts, with an asterisk beside it for missing the French Open, where Nadal triumphed for the 10th time. The Spaniard did not drop a set in Paris. Federer did not drop a set at Wimbledon. Those are statements of dominance on their preferred surfaces that are impossible to deny.
Cilic, a virtual one-legged bystander once his left foot gave up on him after the first set, said tearfully: “I’ve never given up in all my career. I gave my best, and that is all I could do I had an amazing journey here, played the best tennis of my life.”
Federer paid tribute to his stricken foe. “It is cruel some times but he fought well and he is a hero,” the Swiss said. “He should be really proud.”
Playing tennis every bit as good as when in his pomp, Federer might yet go on to match Nadal’s French Open La Decima at the All England Club. He said before the final he feels no urge to retire and with his peers Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic showing distinct signs of frailty, he will very much fancy his chances.
On Sunday there were few moments of anxiety on his side of the net as he worked his way to a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 win as one-sided as was Cilic’s only victory in a slam final, when he beat the injured Kei Nishikori for the loss of nine games in an hour and 53 minutes in New York three years ago. That was marginally better as a contest than Nadal’s 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win in two hours and 16 minutes over David Ferrer to win the French Open in 2013.
There are no guarantees in sport, of course, but this was an anti-climax of the first order.
Bouncing the ball more than LeBron James, Cilic started as if he could barely believe he had a right to serve to the man at the other end. Yet he very much had earned the privilege of a Wimbledon final debut, having taken nearly four-and-a-half hours longer to get to the final Sunday than Federer, who arrived with just under 10 hours on the clock.
Yet the 6ft 6in Croat had more than a legend to contend with. The crowd erupted at the smallest success by their Swiss hero and tried hard not to revel in Cilic’s struggle. It is hard to think of an equivalent scenario in sport: fighting all the learned instincts of British fairness, the congregation waited to pierce the silence in the church of Roger, quietly guilty, perhaps, when they joined the chorus of adoration, like naughty monks and nuns.
They could have been quietly humming Rock of Ages, as their ageless champion sought to become the oldest man in the Open era to win Wimbledon.
There was not much concern for either celebration or concern in the tentative early exchanges – until a glorious running retrieval on the backhand to give Federer a two-point lead in the fifth game. Cilic over-hit to gift him three break points, saved two then dumped a backhand.
A couple of closer calls went against him, his groundstrokes got ragged and Cilic found himself in the same situation as Tomas Berdych in his semi-final against Federer two days previously. His potent but shaky serve got him through a deuce hold, Federer held to love and the rattled world No6 was left shaking his head when the seven-time champion thrashed an unreachable backhand crosscourt for the first of two set points. A double fault was the saddest way to give up the set, after 36 minutes.
Cilic was rattled and overawed but continued to fight. However, 3-0 down in the second, he had the trainer on and buried his head in his towel as he contemplated a grim scenario: quitting in a Wimbledon final.
Federer walked calmly to the service line, Cilic remaining on his chair for a worryingly long time, before re-entering the fray. He did not want to go out like Alexandr Dolgopolov, who limped away from his first-round match against Federer after only 43 minutes with an ankle injury.
So, on he soldiered, wounded in spirit and body, up against the greatest player of them all, who has so convincingly repaired his own briefly pained physique it is as if he is embarking on a second career.
While Cilic was back in harness and there seemed little chance of his emulating Herbert Roper Barrett, the only player, man or woman, to retire in a final here – in 1911 from fatigue – he plainly was a walking target. Federer was not in the mood for mercy, even though both players are friends. This was business. This was history. There would be no reprieve.
Cilic held at the start of the third set but, like his palindromic surname, he did not know whether he was coming or going. Henri Cochet was the last player to come from two-sets down to win a Wimbledon final, against his French compatriot Jean Borotra 90 years ago. The old maestro did it three times in a row for that victory, a comeback hat-trick not matched again until Tommy Robredo did it at Roland Garros in 2013 – but did not go on to win the title.
Even saving a break point to hold in the third game – staying ahead on the serving cycle – was greeted as a minor triumph for Cilic.
Federer broke, inevitably, and it seemed unnecessary to give him new balls to serve out the match. He could have done it with an orange. The last cutting wound was delayed, however, Federer squandering two match points before rifling down a second-serve ace, his eighth of the final.
Comments
Add new comment