The seven-time Wimbledon champion appeared to be heading out when he was blitzed by Cilic's power game.

Roger Federer put his global army of "Fed-Head" fans through the wringer for four nerve-shredding sets before he kept alive his pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title with a 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3 win over Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals yesterday.

Novak Djokovic's shock third-round exit had raised hopes that this could be the week when the Swiss finally ends his four-year hunt for an 18th grand slam title, as the Serb had been the only man to beat him at the majors over the past year.

However, all those expectations appeared to be heading for the dustbin as Cilic stood one point away from victory — not once, not twice but three times in a pulsating fourth set that had everyone on the edge of their seats on Centre Court.

Three huge serves kept Federer alive — just — and he then produced the kind of form, and outrageous shots, that have made him the most successful man in tennis by stealing the tiebreak 11-9.

An ace on his first match point finished off the job and carried him into an 11th Wimbledon semifinal.

At 34, Federer is the oldest man to reach the semifinals at the All England Club since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall was runner-up in 1974. He will face another big-server, Milos Raonic, for a place in Sunday's final.

Canadian Raonic produced an irresistible display of classic grasscourt tennis to overcome giant-killer Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 on Court 1.

The influence of John McEnroe, a new addition to his coaching team, was apparent as sixth-seeded Raonic charged into the net behind his booming first serves and confounded American Querrey with a succession of deft winning volleys.

So great was the 25-year-old's control of the first two sets that he lost just seven points on his serve during that period and faced no break points, in a display at times reminiscent of Pete Sampras in his heyday.

Querrey, for his part, was not able to produce the kind of scintillating form from the baseline that saw him stun world No. 1 Djokovic.

The ferociously whipped topspin forehand that had served the American so well in previous matches misfired at critical times against Raonic.

The 28th seed raised his game to finally break the Canadian's serve in the third set and take the match into a fourth. Raonic failed to reproduce the champagne tennis of the early stages, but nonetheless reasserted his dominance to close out the match and reach his second Wimbledon semifinal.

Raonic is the first Canadian to make the last four at the All England Club more than once and he will hope it is third time lucky after losing his previous two grand slam semifinals at Wimbledon in 2014 and at the Australian Open this year.

"There were some momentum shifts there. I'm glad I was able to get back on the right path after he won the third," Raonic said after tying Eugenie Bouchard's Canadian record of reaching of three slam semis.

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