MARIN CILIC broke down in tears on Centre Court during the men’s Wimbledon final against Roger Federer as foot blister threatened to wreck his match.
The Croatia ace held his head in his hands and was seen to by medical staff at SW19, before getting out of his chair and playing on, but the Swiss magician eventually took a record victory.
But it appeared at one point that he would have to quit the showpiece event because of the wound.
Federer won the first set 6-3 in just 36 minutes before going 4-1 up in the second.
At that point, during the subsequent break, Cilic sat down and looked visibly distressed as he burst into floods of tears and held his towel over his face.
But he did get up and see out the second set, which he lost 6-1 in just 25min.
During the next break in play Cilic, 28, was again seen to by the medical staff in his chair – and the doctor appeared to give him a tablet.
He also had his foot re-taped by physios for treatment on a blister, as fans got to see the pounding his foot had taken over the last two weeks.
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His leg appeared to have heavy cushioned plasters on the ball of the foot and physios gave the limb several minutes’ attention during a medical time out.
He then got out of his chair again and won the first game of the third set.
The crowd got behind former US Open winner Cilic as he put on a brave face in South West London.
Prime Minister Theresa May, Prince William and Kate were all in the crowd as a confused audience watched on.
But Cilic appeared renewed after having his foot re-taped and fought hard in the third set, before Federer broke his serve and went on to win the championship.
Cilic said after the match: "I never give up in a match. I gave it my best - it's all I can do.
"I had an amazing journey here. I played the best tennis of my life. I really want to thank my team - they gave so much strength to me.
"Of course, to all my fans in Croatia, it was really tough today. I gave it my all. I will hope I come back here another time."
Boris Becker said on his BBC commentary that he understood why Cilic was crying.
He said: "We've got an explanation for what went wrong.
"He had a huge blister on his foot and couldn't walk anymore.
"I hope they've fixed it.
"I just hope for the sake of the spectators the final will be more of a match now."
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