Cilic soars into his first Wimbledon final

Croatian powerhouse Marin Cilic is vowing to stick to his guns after setting up a Wimbledon final blockbuster with seven-times champion Roger Federer.

Seventh-seeded Cilic wore down the physically battered and mentally drained Sam Querrey in four sets to reach his maiden final at The All England Club with a 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 victory over the giantkilling American.

The 2014 US Open champion is bidding to become the first player other than grand slam heavyweights Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka to land two career majors since Lleyton Hewitt collected his second at Wimbledon in 2002.

"Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable," Cilic said.

"Especially the way the tournament unfolded from the first round. I was playing really good tennis."

Coached for much of his formative years by Australian Bob Brett, Cilic is also the first Croat to make the title decider since his ex-mentor Goran Ivanisevic denied Pat Rafter in a classic five-setter in 2001.

But he's not done yet, promising to take the fight to Federer -- as he did when overwhelming the Swiss master 6-3 6-4 6-4 in the 2014 US Open semi-finals before taking care of Kei Nishikori in similarly merciless fashion to claim the title.

"Roger is playing the best tennis of his career on this court," Cilic said.

"I'm just going to focus on playing my tennis and my own game."