Roger Federer became the oldest man in the Open era to win the Wimbledon 2017 title as he vanquished Croatian Marin Cilic in tournament final for a record eight Wimbledon crown, and extend his record to 19 Grand Slams. The 35-year-old took only one hour and 41 minutes to win the game in straight sets to win his first Wimbledon title since 2012. Federer’s victory comes in a year of comebacks for the veterans – his famed rival, and once king of clay court, Rafael Nadal claimed the French Open this summer, while the Federer also won the Australian Open after a six month long break in January. The two of them have made for a remarkable year as the big players like Any Murray and Novak Djokovic have found themselves knocked out time and again. With the win, Federer surpasses Pete Sampras and William Renshaw, who won their seventh titles in 2000 and 1889 respectively. Only Martina Navratilova has more Wimbledon titles – nine.
Federer’s opponent Cilic was plagued by blisters on his left foot and even broke down in tears in the second set. “It is cruel sometimes,” Federer said of Cilic’s physical difficulties, addling “but Marin fought well and is a hero, so congratulations on a wonderful tournament.”
Federer has had a near perfect tournament – he also became the first man after Bjorn Borg to win the Wimbledon title without dropping a single set in his seven matches. It was always going to be a hard game for Cilic, but Federer’s fluent shots kept him busy all over the court and the first break point of the match came in the fifth game after an error by Cilic following a heavy fall. After Federer took the second set, Cilic took time out and a retirement, a first in a hundred years, seemed likely but Cilic returned to battle through the final set. It went down to 3-3, but the fightback was brief and not enough to stop Federer, who was crowned champion again, fourteen years after winning his first title here.
