Wimbledon 2016: Roger Federer beats Marin Cilic in five-set thriller

Roger Federer staged a dramatic fightback from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic and advance to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Seven-time champion Federer saved three match points in the fourth set on Centre Court on Wednesday before coming through 6-7 (4-7) 4-6 6-3 7-6 (11-9) 6-3.

The victory means Federer is the first player to win 307 Grand Slam singles matches, breaking Martina Navratilova's all-time record.

"Marin is such a wonderful player and I knew I was in so much trouble in the third set and in the fourth," said Federer.

"I just tried to stay in the match and hoped for his level to drop and get a bit lucky. That happened and obviously the breaker was crazy. My legs and back were there and serving was key, plus mentally this will give me a hell of a boost."

The world No 3 will face Milos Raonic for a place in the final after the sixth seed beat Sam Querrey 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-4 on Court One.

Raonic racked up 58 winners to reach his second Wimbledon semi-final and end Querrey's fantastic run, which featured a shock third-round win over Novak Djokovic.

For a while, it looked as though Raonic would be meeting Cilic on Friday, but Federer came back from the brink to keep his quest for an 18th Grand Slam title alive.

The 34-year-old had reached the final at the All England Club in each of the past two years and had not dropped a set on his way to the quarter-finals.

But, after saving a couple of early break points, Cilic took the opener on Centre, racing into a 5-0 lead in the tie-break and closing it out when Federer went long with a forehand.

The Croatian pressed home his advantage with a break to move 2-1 ahead in the second set, with Federer unable to respond.

But the world No 3 fought back in the third, breaking for 5-3 when Cilic double faulted.

The momentum looked to be with Federer after he served out the third set, but both players saved a couple of break points early in the fourth.

Cilic then spurned his first match point at 5-4 when he went long with a return, before Federer saved another with an ace at 5-6.

In a dramatic tie-break, the advantage swung back and forth, with Cilic fighting back from 6-4 down and then failing to take another match point. Federer eventually took his fifth set point to take the match to a decider.

With the crowd in his corner, it was Federer who got the only break of the fifth set when Cilic hit a forehand wide. The world No 3 then sealed a memorable fightback with an ace.