Federer’s bidding to win a record-breaking EI GH TH title at the age of 3 5

ROGER FEDERER reached a record 11th Wimbledon final and claimed he could not believe another title was within touching distance.

Federer saw off Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 7-6 6-4, to set up a showdown tomorrow against Marin Cilic and a shot at a record eighth SW19 crown. And the 35-year-old said: “I feel very privileged to be in another final. I’ve got the pleasure to play on Centre Court another time. “I can’t believe it’s almost true again. I’m happy to have a day off to reflect on what I’ve done at the tournament.” What he has done is continue to defy the clock and, at the same time, raise the bar to reach a record 29th grand slam final, all without dropping a set here. The Swiss’s decision to skip the clay court season so he was fresh for his favourite slam has paid off handsomely. And who would bet against the SW19 fans’ favourite setting a few more records in tomorrow’s showpiece? Not only would he become the first man to win Wimbledon eight times, he would also be the oldest to triumph here in the Open era, aged 35 years and 342 days. World No.15 Berdych played his part in a semi that was not quite as one-sided as the straight-sets defeat might suggest, and he refused to go down without a fight. The Czech beat Federer here in 2010, en route to his only ever major final. But there was never any danger of a repeat. As good as Berdych (below) was, Federer was simply better with his ability to turn it on at will and leave the Centre Court crowd gasping at some of his often audacious winners. The first two sets were nip and tuck, and Federer needed 7-4 and 7-3 tie-break successes to win them. But he always had the edge, with Berdych struggling to make much of a dent on the seventime champions’ serve, especially in the first set, while having to work seriously hard to hold his own. Berdych won just seven points on Federer’s serve in the first set – five coming in the one game he secured a break – while one game took a dominant Federer just 48 seconds to rattle off. seizedthe a points game Already seventha after himself,crucialtwo game savingsets advantageof up,to two the Federerbreak breakthird,in BerdychAnd he and servedtake a 4-3 out lead. the match, Berdych sealing sent victorya forehandwhen crashing into the net. Now for the final, his history bid and Cilic. He said: “Last time at Wimbledon, we had a brutal quarter-final – I was two sets down. I had to get lucky to win. Marin is a great guy. In his first Wimbledon final. “He crushed me at the US Open a few years ago – I hope he doesn’t play that good.”