Roger Federer Wins Record 8th Wimbledon Title
LONDON (CBSNEWS/AP) - Roger Federer's wait for his eighth Wimbledon title is over. He is once again the champion of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament, now more often than any other man in the history of an event first held in 1877.
Federer won his eighth title at the All England Club and 19th major trophy overall, capping a marvelous fortnight in which he never dropped a set by overwhelming Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday in a lopsided final that was more coronation than contest.
Federer tweeted an image of himself kissing the men's trophy on Sunday.
"#19 tastes great," he wrote.
#19 tastes great pic.twitter.com/3Hv3lM5Rk9
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) July 16, 2017
When it ended, with an ace from Federer after merely 1 hour, 41 minutes, he raised both arms overhead. A minute or so later, he was sitting on the sideline, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I always believed that I could maybe come back and do it again. And if you believe, you can go really, really far in your life, and I did that," Federer said. "And I'm happy I kept on believing and dreaming and here I am today for the eighth. It's fantastic."
He turns 36 on Aug. 8, making him the oldest man to win Wimbledon in the Open era, and is a father of four. Both of his sets of twins -- boys, 3, in their light blue blazers; girls, 7, in their dresses -- were in the guest box for the trophy ceremony.
One son stuck a couple of fingers in his mouth; a daughter grabbed her brother's hand.
"They have no clue what's on. They think it's probably a nice view and a nice playground. But it's not quite like that here, so one day hopefully they'll understand," Federer said about his boys.
As for the girls, he said: "They enjoy to watch a little bit. They come for the finals, I guess."
When Dad is Roger Federer, you can wait until the last Sunday to show up.
Truly, this outcome was only in doubt for about 20 minutes, the amount of time it took Federer to grab his first lead. Cilic, whose left foot was treated by a trainer in the late going, was never able to summon the intimidating serves or crisp volleys that carried him to his lone Grand Slam title at the 2014 U.S. Open, where he surprisingly beat Federer in straight sets in the semifinals.
This one was all Federer, who last won Wimbledon in 2012.