Roger Federer has re-written the record books by winning his eighth gentlemen's singles title at the Championships, Wimbledon. He beat Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.
The Swiss legend, who has extended his own record of Grand Slam titles won by a male player to 19, shattered a record that was set by William Renshaw back in 1889 and has only been equalled by Pete Sampras.
Federer secured his place in the final with a brilliant three-set semi-final win over Tomas Berdych, while opponent Marin Cilic overcame Andy Murray's conqueror Sam Querrey. Having won the US Open in 2014, this made the giant Croatian the only player of the current crop outside the 'big four' and Stan Wawrinka to have reached more than one Grand Slam final.
However, for Cilic this was to be a chastening occasion. Struggling with blisters that constrained his movement, the Aegon Championships finalist soon fell behind as Federer found his form. Three of the first four games in the match went to deuce before Federer secured the first break. A second break clinched the set and when the 35-year-old took the second 6-1, there was no way back for Cilic.
Rowing hard against the tide, the number seven seed dug deep to try to stay in the match, but it took just one more break from Federer to clinch the match. Apart from one extraordinary drop shot, this match had seen few of the box of magic tricks that he had deployed to beat Berdych, but history was all that mattered.
The record Federer had shared with Renshaw and Sampras was just one of those he had broken. It was his 11th Wimbledon final and a 29th Grand Slam final. Federer was also the oldest Wimbledon men's champion for 87 years and it was only the second time in the Open Era a man had won the tournament without dropping a set, the other being Bjorn Borg in 1976.
Speaking after the match, Federer said he plans to be back next year at the age of 36 to try to defend the title. British fans will see him before that, however; after he plays an exhibition match with Andy Murray in Glasgow early in November, he is sure to be in the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena.
While Federer struck a blow for the over-35s at the All England Club, Venus Williams had not quite been able to do likewise the previous day. The 37-year-old's attempts to keep the Venus Rosewater Dish in the family while sister Serena takes maternity leave foundered against Garbine Muguruza. The Spaniard took a tight first set 7-5 before racing to victory 6-0 in the second.
British fans might have been disappointed that Andy Murray could not defend his title and that Jo Konta had not emulated Virginia Wade - although she has the consolation of rising to a career high of fourth in the WTA rankings - but there was always going to be at least one home player holding a trophy. The Mixed Doubles saw Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis defeat holders Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen 6-4, 6-4.
Elsewhere, Briton Jordanne Whiley and her Japanese partner Yui Kamiji claimed the fourth ladies' wheelchair doubles in a row.