Roger is the gr-eight-est
Federer shows Who is the boss
RECORD-BREAKING Roger Federer aims to play on until he’s 40.
Wimbledon’s greatest-ever male champ took his tally to eight titles at SW19 with a 6-3 6-1 6-4 win over Marin Cilic yesterday.
And Federer wants to carry on re-writing the history books for several years to come.
The Swiss star turns 36 next month, but asked if he could defy the odds and play on, he said: “You would think so if health permitting and everything is OK.
“You could take 300 days off beforehand, just prepare for Wimbledon and put yourself in a freeze box, then you could come out and train a bit!”
Federer is now Wimbledon’s oldest
THE only surprise was that Roger Federer wasn’t named as the new Doctor Who afterwards!
After all, just about everything else has come his way this year.
On Centre Court yesterday Federer rubber-stamped his status as the greatest male tennis player of all time.
His eighth Wimbledon title – taking him clear of William Renshaw and Pete Sampras – was also his 19th Grand Slam which stretched his lead over nearest rival Rafa Nadal to four. It was more of a coronation than a contest.
Bawling
At one stage, stricken opponent Marin Cilic looked set to become the first player to retire in the final since Herbert Roper-Barrett in 1911 as he battled against injury.
At 3-0 down in the second set, having been broken twice in the first, Centre Court witnessed the distressing sight of the Croat bawling his eyes out.
He also required a medical time-out after going two sets down when heavy strapping was applied to his left foot.
Cilic’s woes may have led to this being the shortest final since 1984 but it did not affect the result – not when Federer is playing tennis from the Gods.
Superman might have been on the opposite side of the net but it would not have prevented Fed becoming, at 35 years and 342 days, Wimbledon’s oldest champion since professional players began competing in 1968.
And by winning 6-3 6-1 6-4, Federer becomes the first man since Bjorn Borg 41 years ago to go through the entire fortnight without dropping a set.
He is now the proud holder of two of the Major titles, having won the Australian Open in February after six months out of the game.
The scenes after Cilic was put out of his misery will live long in the memory with Federer’s two sets of twins brought into the Players’ Box to watch dad being presented with his trophy.
Cilic was actually the better player in the opening games and had a break point to move 3-1 ahead.
But he attacked a Federer second serve and netted. The No.7 seed was broken in the next game and won only two more points on the Federer serve in the first two sets.
Cilic netted a forehand to give Federer the break in the third set before the Swiss closed in on an eighth title at SW19 – 14 years after notching up his first.
That Doctor Who gig’s gone. But there’s always the next James Bond!