It’s been 10 times now that Roger Federer, the Swiss master, has come back from the dead after being two sets down in his illustrious career. Yet, there would be no prizes for guessing — as he himself admitted — that the one against Marin Cilic on Wednesday evening at the Wimbledon quarter-finals would be his most treasured one.

There have been comebacks, often against the unlikeliest of opponents who may have pushed Federer into a corner — like a fourth round match at the 2009 French Open against Tommy Haas. Or a few years later in 2012, against a relentless Juan Martin Del Potro in a quarter-final, again on Paris clay, where he bounced back to reel off the last three sets with relative ease.

However, that was then, with Federer still very much at the peak of his prowess. The landscape of the men’s game has changed dramatically over the last four years along with the gradual waning of his powers — the mean machine of Djokovic assumed control as Nadal was no longer the force he was and Murray being there, but not quite so.

The inevitable talk of retirement is being tossed about every now and then, more so with the injury early this year which needed knee surgery for the first time in his career — forcing him to skip the French Open. A vulnerable Federer came back to test the grass, but losses to the likes of a Dominic Thiem in Stuttgart or Alexander Xverev in Halle would have been crushing for any lesser mortal than him.

An exit against Cilic in the quarter-finals, should it have happened, would not have been earth-shattering news though. At just short of his 35th birthday and coming out of a potentially debilitating injury, the Federer fans would have taken it as a reasonable effort — and heaved a sigh of relief that he was not headed the Tiger Woods way.

And this is where lies the magical quality of Federer’s epic comeback against Cilic. It will be, however, grossly unfair to expect him to repeat this every time — be it in the semi-final or final. His legion of fans see a good omen that the last time Federer pulled back from two sets down at SW19, it was on centre court against Frenchman Julien Benneteau in 2012, he went on to win his 17th Grand Slam.

However, to me, it doesn’t really matter if he crashes out against Milos Raonic in the very next game and loses his best chance to add that elusive 18th slam in the bag.

The champion, the fierce competitor in Federer, seemed emotional and relieved to note that he hasn’t quite lost it … and that’s what matters.