LONDON — Roger Federer has won 307 Grand Slam tournament singles matches, more than any player. So it’s only natural that many of those would run together in his mind, just more clicks on the odometer of his illustrious career.
That was not the case for the seven-time Wimbledon winner in a men’s quarterfinal match Wednesday that automatically earned a spot on the mantle as one of the Swiss star’s all-time classics.
Despite losing the first two sets and being nudged to the very edge of the abyss, staring down three match points in the fourth, Federer somehow held on to beat Croatia’s Marin Cilic, 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3, as the Centre Court crowd roared with approval.
“I don’t remember coming back from two sets to love here,” Federer said. “This is huge for me, my season, my career.”
With the victory, Federer broke his tie with Martina Navratilova for Grand Slam event victories, and matched Jimmy Connors’ record of 11 semifinal appearances.
The crowd was heavily pro-Federer, although Cilic seemed unfazed, saying: “Roger is liked everywhere, and especially here. Had so much success. … But it didn’t bother me.”
In the second match on Centre Court, another crowd favorite also won in five sets. Scotland’s Andy Murray, who won Wimbledon three years ago, outlasted France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6 (10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1. Murray moves on to the semifinals to face Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, who beat France’s Lucas Pouille, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2.
Cilic had never lost a match in which he led, 2-0. Federer, 34, coming off knee and back injuries that forced him to sit out the French Open, hadn’t played a five-set match since the quarterfinals of the 2014 U.S. Open, when he dug his way out of an 0-2 hole.
“To win a match like this, to test the body, to be out there again, fighting, being in a physical battle and winning it is an unbelievable feeling,” said Federer, who will play Canada’s Milos Raonic in the semifinals.
Raonic put an end to the most surprising story of the tournament by beating 28th-seeded Sam Querrey, who eliminated No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the third round.
Querrey, playing his first Grand Slam event quarterfinal, lost a battle of big servers to Raonic, 4-6, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
“I knew he had a big serve, obviously, but I was really impressed with his net game,” Querrey, a California native, said. “He really didn’t miss a volley today. He kept coming forward, kept the pressure on me, and I felt it.”
The most memorable drama of the day unfolded between Federer and Cilic, with spectators including David Beckham and Bradley Cooper. Two days earlier, Jack Nicklaus attended a Federer match.
Reminded that Beckham and Cooper were in attendance, Federer said he didn’t speak to them before or after but said “it was nice to see them there.”
“Back in the day, I was nervous playing in front of my family, in front of famous people, then in front of famous sports people, famous tennis players,” he said.
“At the end of the day today, what makes me nervous is really legends of our sport. That’s the only thing that still gets me nervous, when I see guys sitting, watching my match. I feel like, ‘Better play well. You don’t want to disappoint legends of our sport.’ “
Without question, Federer breathes that rarefied air, and his comeback against Cilic only underscored that. Facing elimination, on two of Cilic’s three match points Federer was down to his second serve before winning the point to stay alive. He didn’t double-fault all day, and those times when he missed on his first serve, he boldly hit his second.
“I think Pete (Sampras) once said, ‘You’re only as good as your second serve,’ ” he said. “I’m happy that my second serve has always been there for me.”
His body has come through for him, too, after what had been the most physically trying stretch of his career. When he sat out the French Open, it ended at 16 years a streak of Grand Slam events spanning 65 consecutive events. So getting pushed to a fifth set Wednesday told him something about his body, endurance and focus.
“What I like about being in a fifth set is you actually get really tested to see where is your fitness, where is your mind at?” he said. “Can your shoulder, your back, your legs, can they sustain 3 hours 17 (minutes) of just hitting big serves, running, being explosive?
“That’s why I was very intrigued, pushing myself a lot to get over the finish line. … That gives me a lot of confidence moving forward from here.”