Federer erases 2-set hole, 3 match points at Wimbledon
LONDON — The match, and Roger Federer’s bid for a record eighth Wimbledon championship, essentially should have been over after a little more than 1 1/2 hours Wednesday.
Already trailing two sets to none, he was down love-40 while serving at 3-all in the third.
Once that problem was solved, his quarterfinal against Marin Cilic really could have concluded 45 minutes later, when Federer faced a match point at 5-4 in the fourth. Or 10 minutes and two games later, when Cilic again was a point from winning. Or another 10 minutes after that, when Cilic held a third match point.
Through it all, Federer, a month shy of his 35th birthday, would not go away. And Cilic, who beat Federer in straight sets en route to the 2014 U.S. Open title, could not close the deal. Saving that trio of match points, Federer eventually emerged with a don’t-look-away-or-you’ll-miss-something 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3 victory over Cilic to reach his 11th semifinal at the All England Club.