Marin Cilic’s mind was willing, but his body was not. After playing some of the best tennis of his career to reach the Wimbledon final, a blister on his foot and the impeccable play of Roger Federer quickly sent him packing on Sunday. The Croatian held three match points on the Swiss maestro when they played in the 2016 Wimbledon quarter-finals, but today was a different story as Cilic’s foot issue left him unable to push off on his serve or groundstrokes. He averaged 21 aces per match heading into the final, but hit just five against Federer. Cilic also hit just 16 winners in the final, compared to an average of 55 winners in his first six rounds. The...
Everyone talks about seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer getting older. The Swiss right-hander will turn 36 in less than a month, on 8 August. But at least one of his peers remains unconvinced that he is, in fact, aging. “I don't see anything that would indicate Roger is getting older or anything like that. I think he's just proving his greatness in our sport,” said Tomas Berdych, who fell to Federer 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-4 in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Friday. “If you look at the other guys who are 35, 36, I think you can very clearly see that the age and the years on tour are affecting them. But not with him.” The ageless champion will play in his...
Sam Querrey expressed an inner-belief that his best tennis is around the corner on Friday following a semi-final exit to Marin Cilic at The Championships on Friday. “Before I go for major titles, I need to take some baby steps before that,” said Querrey. “I do feel I can. I feel that if I play well, my level is at a high enough point where I can beat those top guys.” The American is now looking for prolonged consistency having beaten the defending Wimbledon champions over the past two years – Novak Djokovic in the 2016 third round and Andy Murray in this year’s quarter-finals. He also beat Rafael Nadal in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel final in March. “To have...
