Marin Cilic recovered from a set down to vanquish Sam Querrey 6-7(8) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-5 and reach his first-ever Wimbledon final. The Croatian will be chasing his second Grand Slam title on Sunday after his impressive triumph at the 2014 US Open, but the opposition facing him this time could hardly be any tougher after Roger Federer beat Tomas Berdych 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-4 to book his place in the final.

The first set of Cilic’s semi-final could have hardly have been tighter, as neither he nor Querrey faced a break point during twelve exemplary holds that took it to a tie-break. And it was the American who stepped up his game as he recovered superbly from 1-4 down. First, he ensured the Croatian did not get a second break by winning both the next points on his serve, and then he changed the momentum of the breaker with the best shot of the match so far: a reactionary backhand volley across court for a winner after Cilic drilled the ball to his right. After that mini-break, Querrey won four of the next six points to take the tie-break 8-6.

Querrey failed to make any impression on the Croatian’s serve in the second set and it cost him dearly after Cilic broke him in the seventh game. The World No.6 earned the break with an excellent forehand pass and a series of deep groundstrokes that drew errors from the American’s racket, and then took full advantage by serving superbly to easily hold twice and take the set 6-4.

In the third set, fans were treated to an exhibition of great serving and forehand winners, particularly from Cilic. He and Querrey traded breaks early on in the set but otherwise never looked in danger of losing serve and the match soon entered its second tie-break. This time the Croatian came out on top as he produced a couple more stunning forehand winners to go up 5-3, then watched as the American made a pair of unforced errors to hand him the set.

Querrey briefly threatened to take the match into a fifth set when he broke early to open up a 3-1 lead in the fourth set, but Cilic stormed back when he hit three consecutive winners against the American’s serve in game eight to level the score. And Querrey crumbled under the pressure of serving to stay in the match at 5-6 as he made a double fault and two unforced errors to gift Cilic two chances to win it. The Croatian gratefully accepted the second with a trademark forehand and celebrated with a huge roar of delight.

He is only the second Croatian player – man or woman – to reach the Wimbledon final, and he said, “Both of us played amazing tennis in the first set. The level was absolutely unbelievable. Then I fell just short in that tiebreak: I was 4-1 up and Sam played a few good points. But I managed to regroup and felt that I was really good mentally in the critical situations, even when a break down in the fourth set. I would say I played at a really high level throughout the match.”

Cilic believes it is “a great thing” that he has already played a Grand Slam final as it makes it easier to prepare for a second, but he is under no illusions about the scale of the task facing him on Sunday. He said, “I believe this is (Federer’s) home court, the place where he feels his best and knows he can play his best game. Obviously, I'm going to look back to 12 months ago when I was one point away from winning a match against him at Wimbledon. And I believe in my own abilities to get through and to win it. But I still know that it's a big mountain to climb. Roger is playing some of the best tennis of his career at the moment and having a great season. It's going to be a huge challenge.”

As he prepares to take on Federer, Cilic will be encouraged by his 6-3 6-4 6-4 dismantling of the Swiss in the semi-final during his trophy-winning run at Flushing Meadows. During that remarkable display, the Croatian fired down 13 aces, won 87% of points behind his first serve, cracked 43 winners and took 4 of his 8 break points. His tally of 25 aces and 69 winners against Querrey today, along with similarly impressive tallies in earlier rounds, will help him believe he can dominate many of the points against Federer again.

When he was asked whether his win over the Swiss at the 2014 US Open will give him more belief that he can beat him again, Cilic said, “I think so. I would say that I'm now in a little bit better form and maybe slightly mentally stronger having learned a few valuable lessons. But still, it's a final. It's never easy to deal with and you never know how your emotions are going to be. I believe I have the ability (to win) and I’ve played really well during the tournament, which is very important in giving me a lot of confidence for this final.”

The Croatian, who has reached the final at the 11th attempt, a record in the Open era, also explained what it would mean to win Wimbledon. He said, “It would mean the world to me. When I won the US Open in 2014, it opened so many possibilities in my mind for the rest of my career. To win a Grand Slam again would mean even more because I know how much it meant to win that first one. It would absolutely be a dream come true to win Wimbledon.”

Querrey believes today’s match was the best Cilic had ever played against him. He said, “He doesn’t seem to have many holes (in his game). I played him a handful of times before and lost a bunch. But he did seem to play at a really high-level today.” He continued, “Marin is really good. He's tough on both sides. I felt like he pushed me around a bit today. I had that break in the fourth, and then he played a great game to break back. That deflated me a little bit. He just does everything really well.”

However, the American is happy with his overall Wimbledon performance. He said, “It's been a fun run. It’s given me some confidence, not only this year, but last year, and in Acapulco earlier this year (when I won the title). I feel like I've really had some ups over the last year, and hopefully, there are more of those to come as I get older.”

After two good years in a row at the grass Grand Slam, Querrey was asked what he needed to do to have more success at the other majors. He said, “(I think I have to) really commit to the style of play and be a little more aggressive. In the past maybe I haven't done that. I seem to commit to that more effectively here on the grass. I think if I just do that at the other slams, I will perform better.”