Roger Federer reaches 11th Wimbledon final after beating Tomas Berdych in straight sets

Fourteen years after making his Grand Slam breakthrough on Centre Court, Roger Federer will return to the most famous stage in tennis on Sunday in search of the ultimate Wimbledon record.

Federer has passed many milestones at the All England Club, but his 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 semi-final victory here over Tomas Berdych leaves him just one win away from standing alone as the most successful men’s singles champion in Wimbledon history.

The 35-year-old Swiss, who shares the record of seven singles titles with William Renshaw and Pete Sampras, will take on Croatia’s Marin Cilic in his 11th singles final at the All England Club, which in itself will be an extension of one of the many Wimbledon records which he already holds.

At 35 years and 342 days Federer will be the second oldest man in the Open era to play in the final here after Ken Rosewall, who was runner-up in 1974 at 39 years and 246 days. If Federer wins on Sunday he will be the oldest men’s singles champion at Wimbledon in the Open era.

Rosewall, who was watching from the Royal Box, was for years regarded as the most remarkable 30-something in men’s tennis, but Federer is changing that. Since taking a six-month break to rest an injured knee after last year’s Wimbledon he has returned to win his 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and the “Sunshine Double” at Indian Wells and Miami and has now moved to within one victory of arguably his greatest triumph yet.

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Federer will be playing in his 29th Grand Slam final on Sunday, which is seven more than any other man has contested, while his 11th Wimbledon singles final will take him four clear of any other man. The win over Berdych was his 90th at Wimbledon, which is a record for the Open era and 32 more than any other active player.

However, no statistic can convey the brilliance with which Federer is rewriting the history books just a month short of his 36th birthday. The Swiss, who has not dropped a set in his first six matches here, is playing some of the best tennis of his life.

There were periods of the match when Berdych hardly put a foot wrong but the 31-year-old Czech could only watch in near disbelief as Federer flew around the court like a teenager to hit a succession of stunning winners.

Federer’s level dipped occasionally but for the most part he delivered a master class, hitting return winners off thunderous serves, scorching passing shots from both flanks and exquisite volleys. As ever, the Swiss also served beautifully, proving once again that placement and variety can be just as productive as raw power.

Federer had won 18 of his previous 24 meetings with Berdych, though the Czech could point to victories over the Swiss at the 2004 Olympics, at Wimbledon in 2010 and at the US Open in 2012. Federer, nevertheless, had won their previous seven matches and six of their eight meetings at Grand Slam level.

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Playing his first match on Centre Court this year, Berdych was aiming to reach his second Wimbledon final following his defeat to Rafael Nadal in 2010. The Czech, who was playing in his third semi-final here, has won more matches at Wimbledon than at any of the other three Grand Slam tournaments.

For the first half an hour, nevertheless, the traffic was all one-way as Federer sped through his service games, dictated the rallies and hit a barrage of winners. Berdych was not doing much wrong, but Federer put pressure on his serve from the start and broke in the fifth game with a ferocious drive volley winner.

When Berdych broke back three games later there was a disbelieving hush around the stadium. Federer had served a total of just six double faults in his first five matches here, but at 4-3 he served two more to put a grateful Berdych back in the set.

At 5-5 Berdych served his way out of trouble after Federer forced two break points, but in the tie-break it was the seven-times champion’s pinpoint serves that proved crucial. Berdych retrieved an early mini-break, but at 3-4 he fluffed what should have been a routine forehand and went on to lose the tie-break 7-4. Federer’s roar of celebration told you how much this victory was going to mean to the Swiss.

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Berdych, however, was not in any mood to cave in. The Czech, who hit the ball well throughout, saved two break points in the fourth game of the second set and had one of his own in the seventh, which Federer saved with a wonderful forehand cross-court winner.

The set went to another tie-break, in which Federer won four points in succession with glorious forehands to take a 4-1 lead. The Swiss eventually won it 7-4 when he forced Berdych into a backhand error in trying to retrieve a ferocious backhand return.

Federer showed a rare sign of emotion when he screamed in frustration at missing a forehand on break point at 2-2 in the third set and in the following game he was in trouble at 15-40 down. His response was ace, ace, service winner, ace.

At 3-3 Berdych’s resistance was finally ended as a loose forehand gave Federer his final break of serve. At 5-4 Federer served out for victory as Berdych netted a return on the second match point. At two hours and 18 minutes it was Federer’s longest match of the tournament so far.