Swiss Roger Federer on Sunday became the first tennis player to win eight Wimbledon titles by beating Croat Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1 and 6-4.
Roger Federer, now ranked third in the world, beat the 28-year-old Croatian sixth-seeded and won his 19th Grand Slam tournament in the process.
At 35 years and 342 days, the Swiss became the oldest player to win the All England Club tournament in the professional era (since 1968). In addition, it is the second major tournament championship this year after winning the Australian Open back in January.
This is his first victory at Wimbledon since 2012 and broke the tie to seven titles with American Pete Sampras. It comes 14 years after winning his first Wimbledon trophy in 2003 and cements Federer as the “King of Grass”.
Now his name will always be associated with this tennis surface, the same way Rafael Nadal is commonly referred as the “King of Clay” due to his 10 triumphs at the clay of Roland Garros.
Although Federer won, the most touching moment of the final was provided by Cilic
The Swiss was leading 3-0 in the second set when the Croatian, winner of the US Open in 2014 required medical assistance from his trainer. As he was being examined he burst into tears, covering himself with a towel, while his trainer tried to cheer him up.
There was a second medical intervention later, and then his left ankle was examined, and bandaged. After the game Cilic revealed that he was battling a bad blister that he suffered during the semifinal against American Sam Querrey and badly hampered his game.
Cilic’s misfortune began when he missed a break point opportunity when he was leading 2-1 and Federer was serving in the fourth game of the first set. Federer tied him 2-2 and shortly thereafter his blister began to affect him and his game began to falter. He lost his most powerful weapon, his serve, twice and the Swiss finished taking the first set 6-3.
The injury was too much and Federer took advantage of Cilic’s hobbled state to win the next two sets.
At the trophy presentation Federer praised the Croatian’s courage for playing with his injury and called him a hero. The Swiss, who lost the 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon finals, congratulated Cilic on a great tournament and said he hopes they can play some better finals down the road.
Federer, who had 21 winners and won 81 percent of his first serve points, will now prepare for the hard court season and the challenge of winning a sixth US Open title.
