Wimbledon 2017: 'Unique' Roger Federer is 'proving his greatness', says defeated Tomas Berdych

It was hard to know from Tomas Berdych’s voice whether he was talking in frustration or admiration. “I don’t see anything that would really indicate that Roger is getting older or anything like that,” the Czech said after his straight-sets defeat here by Roger Federer on Friday. “I think he’s just proving his greatness in our sport.

“If you look at the other guys who are 35 or 36, I think you can very clearly see that the age and the years on tour are affecting them. But not with him. He’s doing things the right way. He has to be unique in that respect.”

Berdych, whose current world ranking at No 15 is his lowest for seven years, has enjoyed an excellent fortnight after a testing year but he had no answer to Federer’s brilliance.

“I think I played really good tennis throughout the whole tournament, but unfortunately I just faced a guy who is playing his best,” the Czech said. “I think he's playing by far the best tennis right now.”

He added: “Roger doesn't give you any rhythm at all. He's playing barely with any mistakes. He was controlling the game pretty well.”

Federer insisted that the semi-final had been close. “There were chances for the opponent, but I was able to come up with the goods when it mattered,” he said. “I never played with any sense of panic, which is so important when it gets to crunch time. I’m happy I won all these big points today.”

The Swiss said he was “really happy” about the prospect of making history here. He needs one more victory, in his 11th Wimbledon final, to become the first man in history to win the title eight times.

“I love this tournament,” Federer said. “All my dreams came true here as a player. To have another chance to go for number eight now, to be so close now at this stage, is a great feeling.

“I’m unbelievably excited. I hope I can play one more good match. Eleven finals here, all these records, it’s great. But it doesn’t give me the title quite yet. That’s why I came here this year. I’m so close now, so I just have to stay focused.”

Federer last won the title here in 2012 but said he felt ready to win it again. “Grass comes so natural to me,” he said. “I’m just very pleased to be back here.”

The Swiss has won six of his seven previous matches against Marin Cilic, his opponent in Sunday’s final, but had to save a match point before beating him in the quarter-finals here last year.

“This is his home court, the place where he feels the best and knows that he can play the best game,” Cilic said. “Obviously I'm going to look back to 12 months ago, when I was one point away from winning a match against him.

“I definitely believe in my own abilities to get through and to win it, but I still know that it’s a big mountain to climb. Roger is playing maybe some of the best tennis of his career at the moment, having a great season, so I know it’s going to be a huge challenge. But I believe I’m ready.”