Roger Federer saved three match points to complete a stunning two-set comeback at Wimbledon
Roger Federer's quest for an 18th Grand Slam trophy marched on in stunning fashion Wednesday when he came back from two sets down to defeat Marin Cilic, 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3, and reach the semifinals at Wimbledon.
Five-set matches are always grueling and tense, but this one seemed a cut above the rest. For one thing, Federer hasn't been great when he loses the first two sets. Especially not lately:
Cilic, meanwhile, was previously 51-0 all-time in majors when winning the first two sets. After falling behind 2-0, it looked like Federer had a insurmountable task in front of him.
The fourth set was especially stunning. Cilic saw two match points on Federer's serve, but couldn't convert and the set went to a tiebreaker. There, Federer raced out to an early lead, in part because of a key - and agonizingly close - challenge:
But Cilic wouldn't go away, and clawed back to see yet another match point. Federer fought it off, and managed to pull out the tiebreaker, 11-9.
The points throughout the tiebreaker were excellent:
After winning the tiebreaker, the momentum was fully in Federer's corner and the crowd was forcefully behind him. In the fifth set, he came back from 0-40 on his serve to move to 4-3, quickly broke Cilic, and served it out in dominant fashion to complete the comeback:
"I knew I was in so much trouble in the third, and then again in the fourth," Federer said afterward. "I'm really, really pleased and just ecstatic I was able to come through somehow."
In the semifinal, Federer faces a game Milos Raonic. If his match against Cilic was any indication, that semifinal will be chock full of more thrilling moments.