Wimbledon 2016: Roger Federer comes through gruelling five-set thriller after facing near-exit to Marin Cilic

For a man who has won more Grand Slam singles matches than any other player in the history of the game it is perhaps apt to say that Roger Federer does not know when he is beaten. For the first two and a half sets on Centre Court on Wednesday the Swiss looked shot. He was powerless to prevent the force of nature that is Marin Cilic from driving him off the court in the quarter-final and out of these Wimbledon championships.

Federer could not read the Croat’s booming serve, could not stay in enough rallies, create enough chances to break and was being pushed deeper and deeper behind the baseline until he was half way up the hill to Wimbledon Village or heading for Southfields Tube. Cilic won sets one and two, had Federer at 3-3 and love-40 in the third and spurned three match points in the fourth.

The World No 3 refused to say goodbye, refused to buckle and fuelled by the roars of Centre Court - they prefer beauty to the beast in these parts - found reserves of energy, relied on his brilliant second serve (he didn’t hit one double fault), took the game back to Cilic and improved as the match wore on until he was hitting winners for fun by set five and took the match 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

“The dream continues,” Federer said. “I couldn’t be happier. I was in so much trouble in the third and the fourth sets but I fought hard and played super great at the end. It was a big battle. It’s great winning matches like this, coming back from two sets to love but I got lucky a bit.”

Cilic, the World No 13, is coached by Goran Ivanisevic, who looked increasingly dumbstruck in the Croatian’s corner as the match wore on. He presumably knows he and his team will have some heavy bandaging to do to heal the wounds this defeat will cause.

“It's a huge occasion, and I played great tennis," Cilic said. "I was very close to victory. Obviously, it's not easy to deal with after that. There’s just definitely huge disappointment for me losing this way.”

Federer, 34, has now overtaken Martina Navratilova with 307 singles wins at Grand Slams. Although he claims not to be aware of the record how he’d love to add two more. And the crowd at SW19, no matter who he beats en route, would barely begrudge this all-time great claiming an eighth crown on Sunday.

Another booming server, Canada’s Milos Raonic, awaits in the semi-final on Friday, the world No 7, coached by John McEnroe, having beaten Sam Querrey, the American conquerer of Novak Djokovic, in four sets on Court One, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

Cilic, 27, beat Federer in straight sets in the semi-final of the 2014 US Open, his only Slam success to date, and the Swiss admitted this week he was “blown away” back then and wanted revenge. But for an hour and a half it looked like history repeating. Federer, who sat out May’s French Open due to a back injury – his first missed Slam since 1999 - and who went under the knife for the first time in his career earlier this year, looked like his time in SW19 was up. He had been in imperious form thus far in the tournament, not dropping a set, but this was his first meaningful challenge.

“I was very worried coming here,” Federer admitted afterwards and he must have been even more concerned by 2.30pm.

The 6ft 6in Cilic was raining down 130mph serves and although Federer was still producing the odd classic he was being forced to rush. Sometimes that doesn’t even stop him, though: the World No 3, unable to get into position due to the heavy ball hit by Cilic, picked up one half-volley from his laces on the baseline and curved it down the line.

The first set was terribly tight, Cilic saving the only break points created in the fifth game with a deft volley and a huge serve, and was a settled on a tie-break when the Croat raced into a 5-0 lead after pushing Federer off balance with his power and the depth of his ground strokes.

At the start of the second set, Cilic was like a runaway train with Federer powerless and the Swiss was broken in the third game. It looked ugly for Federer - “I wasn’t seeing his serve any more and he was reading mine” - and sad for the crowd who were so much more enamoured with the flair of Federer than the crash of Cilic. The set was spirited away in a flash by Cilic. Six aces to two helped tell the tale.

In the third set, Federer, normally so cool and unflappable, swished at a ball after serving long; a rare moment of anger from the Swiss. He could feel it slipping away. Sure enough, at 3-3, Federer found himself in a corner at 0-40 on his serve. A break beckoned, Cilic on the brink. But Federer fought back and broke Cilic in the next game.

Cilic still had golden chances in the fourth set. Two break points in the fourth game: squandered by dunking one into the net, driving one wide from a kicking Federer second serve. At 5-4 Cilic had his first match point at 30-40 on another Federer second serve but tensed up, that freedom of the first two sets long gone.

The fourth set tie-break was a marathon, ebbing and flowing. Federer spurned set points as it swung from 6-4 to the Swiss to 7-6 to Cilic and another match point but the Croat dumped a Federer second serve into the net: 7-7, 8-8. Cilic dropped in a double fault, the ball bending the tape at the top of the net, looking over to Federer’s side, before dropping back on the Croat’s: 9-9. Eventually, Federer took it 11-9. After two hours and 44 minutes it was time for a fifth.

Federer put his foot to the floor. He was not going to give Cilic any more chances. He almost broke the Croat in the first game. Instead, he had to wait until the eighth and at 4-3 up he played a gorgeous running backhand down the line to roars from the Centre Court. Cilic was done. Federer sealed game, set and remarkable match with an ace.

“It’s better to be here than booking a jet,” Federer said. “This is huge for me, my season, my career. I'm very, very happy.”