The Swiss superstar had serenely eased into a record 11th final at the All England Club and turned on the style yet again to defeat the seventh seed 6-3 6-1 6-4 in 101 minutes to take his incredible tally of major titles to 19.

Federer outclassed a nervy Cilic – who sobbed during the second set after calling for the trainer and later had tape applied to his foot – to become the first man to win the grass-court major eight times, surpassing the marks set by Pete Sampras and Williams Renshaw.

The great Federer, who turns 36 next month, is the oldest male to win Wimbledon in the Open Era and the first to win the tournament without dropping a set since Bjorn Borg achieved that feat 41 years ago.