Roger Federer scaled new heights of greatness at Wimbledon when he duly collected a record breaking win to put him further ahead of other legends, living and dead.
The 35 year-old Swiss took an eighth All England Club title by hammering a troubled Marin Cilic with ruthless ease, winning 6-3 6-1 6-4 in an hour and 41 minutes.
It was his nineteenth Grand Slam victory and in achieving it he became the first player to win the title without dropping a set since Bjorn Borg in 1976.
Cilic began brightly, but by the middle of the second set he was sobbing into his towel at the changeover. It was not immediately clear if that was due to emotional distress or a blistered foot or both.
Either way, he ultimately had no answer to the rasping groundstrokes of Federer or a serve that functioned beautifully, pinging in more than seven out of ten first serves.
Ultimately it was a disappointing final, purely in terms of a contest, but those present would be consoled by knowing that they will not see the like of Federer again. Incredibly, having packed in his 2016 season after knee problems post-Wimbledon he now holds both the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles.
Before a crowd dripping with public figures, from Nigel Farage to Antonio Conte, it had been such a promising start for Cilic, bristling with positive language and with Federer looking the less settled. He forced a break point a 2-2, returning long, but then as we have seen so often in this tournament, there was an adverse reaction to it.
With the Swiss getting more loop onto his forehand to cut the mistakes, he got the best of a brilliant exchange at the net on the second point of the next game, that ended with a deft flick over the net with his opponent lying on the ground.
The roar nearly took the Centre Court roof off, which seemed to compound Cilic’s earlier disappointment. He must have felt very friendless. Federer missed two of the first three break points and then converted when Cilic stuck a backhand in the net.
That visibly settled Federer and held safely until a second break at 5-3, which sealed the first set on 36 minutes when Cilic put a backhand wide.
Another backhand wide put him 2-0 up in the second and then came the strange changeover that saw Cilic sobbing into his towel. The medics came out but nothing was done – it looked like that could have been because there was a pre-existing injury.
Federer just walked past and waited to play on the baseline. Cilic actually played a strong game after that to get to 3-1 but normal service was soon resumed as the Swiss powered to two sets up with 78% of his first serves going in.
Cilic’s groundstroke speed was down and at 3-6 1-6 the physio treated his feet and what looked a nasty blister on the sole.
He carried on in the third, with his footwork slightly restricted, and could not hold back the tide. A 22nd unforced error, officially, saw him slap a forehand in the net to allow the Swiss to break for 4-3, and it was 1927 the last time anyone came back from two sets down to win a Wimbledon final, let alone from a break down in the third.
Federer had new balls to serve with when he stepped out at 5-4, and he sealed it with an ace down the middle. It was incredibly matter of fact for such a historic achievement.
An emotional Federer said afterwards to Cilic: ‘It’s cruel sometimes but you fought well. Be proud of yourself.
On his latest triumph he declared: ‘Better than winning the trophy is just being healthy. To be here and feeling great and holding the trophy is magical. I wasn’t sure I would be here in the final after last year. If you believe you can go really fair in your life. I kept dreaming.’
With his four children stealing the show up in his player box he said: ‘They probably think it’s a nice view and a nice playground’.
