Roger Federer achieved his biggest dream on July 16 after became the first man to win the Wimbledon tennis tournament eight times and, at 35 years old, was also the oldest man in the Open era to win the All England Club, according to a press release. Federer now has 19 Grand Slam titles, four more than fellow Big Four player Rafael Nadal, and won the final set against Marin Cilic from Croatia 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. He dethroned the previous oldest Wimbledon winner, Arthur Ashe, who was the only male African-American player to win both the Open and Wimbledon, and broke the seven-win streaks that Pete Sampras and William Henshaw held. He last won the famous grass court tournament in 2012. According to BBC, Federer also was the first man to win a Wimbledon title without dropping a set since Bjorn Borg in the 1976 U.S. Open.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55731025/815382366.0.jpg)
The official Wimbledon website also states that Federer won 71 percent of serve points in the final (Cilic won 39 percent), had no defeats this season against opponents ranked in the top 100, became the third highest ranked tennis player in the world, and earned five titles this year.
This win came as a surprise for many Tennis fans due to Federer's string of injuries. Federer injured his knee in March 2016 while he got the bath water ready for his twin daughters and heard a click in his left knee. As a result, his knee swelled and required arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus ESPN states. He sat out both the 2016 Rio Olympics and U.S. Open tournaments due to this surgery and doctors' advices, according to Sports Illustrated. Even though he was scheduled to play singles and doubles for Switzerland at the Olympics, Federer hoped to play in the ATP world tour without injuries and valued this important recovery time.
Although some may credit his success to Cilic's foot injury, Federer congratulated his opponent's efforts and didn't flaunt his personal success in the same post-game speech.
"You should be really proud. This is such a special occasion to play in a finals and you did as good as you could in a wonderful tournament and sometimes you don't feel great," Federer said. "In a finals it's cruel, but be proud of yourself and I hope we can play down the road some better ones, so, well done."
The pro became so overjoyed with his victory that he shed tears on the sideline. Federer hopes to return and defend his title next year.
