That match was just incredible. Deadset the best I have ever watched and Roger Federer, for what seems like the millionth time, proved just how good he is.
Mark it down in your diaries, the sixth of July 2016, quarter-finals at Wimbledon and Federer comes from two sets down to stage one of the greatest comebacks ever.
Full credit has to go to Federer’s opponent Marin Cilic for being involved in such a match, but it was the absolute class, precision and talent of Federer that showed why he should always be remembered as the greatest of all time.
The match had it all. Tension, incredible play, long rallies, short rallies, big serving and just some amazing shots from Federer as he thought his way back into the match.
Two shots, in particular, stand out. A backhand smash when the ball already looked to be gone, and another backhand half volley, when he was sitting on the ropes again with the ball well and truly behind him.
Even at 34 years old, and despite his fall from the top of tennis in the last three or four years, he still found a way to come back from two sets down. The match might have taken three hours and 17 minutes, but Federer just never gave up.
It’s not as if Marin Cilic shut down either. He continued to play a strong style of tennis with a low unforced error count and strong service game and got himself into rallies well when the opportunity presented himself.
It’s just that Federer turned up the gears so rapidly it’s not funny.
After two and a half sets, the match really looked in a position where Federer was just never going to find his groove. Despite playing poorly he had pushed the first set to a tie-breaker and always looked in the match during the second, despite ultimately dropping it.
His ability to shake it all off and perform under pressure with the match on the line, though, against the big-serving and quietly-spoken Cilic was just simply incredible.
The fourth set tie-breaker was potentially one of the tensest you will ever watch, with both players having countless opportunities to put the match in their respective favour.
Of course, for Cilic that would have been a win of one of the match points, or for Federer forcing a fifth set.
In the end, Federer would, as we now know, force a fifth set with the tie-break finishing 11-9.
The start of the fifth set was again high-quality tennis, and when Federer finally broke Cilic to move ahead 5-3, it was the first time he had been ahead in the match. He would then hold his nerve, come up with a couple of booming aces and take the victory – easily one of the best of his glittering career.
It is the tenth time Federer has come back from two sets down in his career, something of an amazing statistic.
Debate has been raging recently in the tennis world about whether Novak Djokovic is the best of all time to grace the courts, but Federer, with his swag of 17 grand slams (and that could potentially become 18) and absolute undeniable class just showed everyone a thing or two.
Many felt the ‘Djoker,’ as he is affectionately known, would have to win all four grand slams this calendar year to move ahead of Federer in the conversation, but as we all know, he dropped out of Wimbledon in the third round in a surprise loss to the big-serving Sam Querrey.
Still, it was a remarkable achievement for Djokovic to sit at the top of world tennis and hold all four grand slams at the same time and it has to be given some merit in the discussion.
The biggest fall point for Djokovic at this current point in time is that he has only (and only is a very relative term here) won 12 grand slam titles, five less than Federer. Of course, Djokovic still has some time to run in his career, but for him to eclipse Federer he will need to get a move on.
Federer, of course, also has the advantage of a miraculous seven Wimbledon titles, which could, of course, become eight.
At his age, pulling off a win at Wimbledon would just continue to confirm him as the greatest ever, if he is not already there.
Whichever way you think of the debate though, there is no denying the undeniable talent, class and attitude of the man, and there is also no denying just what a match it was.
Federer the great.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
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