A record seventh title at Melbourne Park and milestone 20th Grand Slam title are all on the line for Roger Federer when he faces Marin Cilic in the Australian Open men’s final.
The Swiss Maestro, who is looking to successfully defend the title he unexpectedly won last year, has barely been made to sweat at Melbourne Park, winning six of his matches in straight sets.
He was only on court for just over one hour in his semi-final clash against Hyeon Chung; the 36-year-old was leading 6-1, 5-2 when the 21-year-old Korean retired due to a foot injury.
This was not the way he would’ve wanted to reach his seventh Australian Open final, or 30th major final overall. Unfortunately, though, injury seemed to strike Chung at just about the worst possible time in his breakthrough Grand Slam tournament.
Beforehand, the Swiss won his five preceding matches in straight sets, including those against Frenchman Richard Gasquet and former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, against whom the Swiss has now beaten three years in a row at Melbourne Park (and fifth overall, after 2008 and 2009).
Now, the Basel native has the chance to create more tennis history with an unprecedented 20th Grand Slam title, further proving once and for all that he is the undisputed GOAT (greatest of all time) in men’s tennis.
Additionally, a straight-sets win in the final would see him win his third major tournament (and second at the Australian Open) without dropping a set, as he did at the 2007 Australian Open and Wimbledon last year.
(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
But standing in the way of him and more Grand Slam glory is Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who has become the first man or woman from his country to reach the final at Melbourne Park.
The 2014 US Open champion advanced to his third major final after defeating Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund in the semi-finals in a match that didn’t really reach any spectacular heights.
Beforehand, he came from two sets to one down to defeat world number one Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard retired at 0-2 down in the final set; this marked only Cilic’s second win against the King of Clay and first since 2009.
He had also defeated another Spaniard, Pablo Carreno Busta, in four sets, and also defeated former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Vasek Pospisil and recent Brisbane runner-up Ryan Harrison in earlier rounds.
The 28-year-old now has the chance to claim his second major title to go with the breakthrough he had at Flushing Meadows in 2014; if he achieves this, he will become the first man outside of the ‘Big Five’ (namely Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka) to do so.
(Photo: WIki Commons)
He will also be keen to reverse last year’s Wimbledon final loss to Federer, in which a foot injury prevented him from playing his best tennis, such as that demonstrated when he stunned the Swiss Maestro en route to that said US Open title over 40 months ago.
The Croat has previously shown that he can beat the best at his best, as evidenced when he defeated then-world number two Andy Murray at the 2009 US Open, and then-reigning US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and Andy Roddick in back-to-back five-set matches at the 2010 Australian Open.
The question is now to be asked – can Cilic reproduce the magic that saw him claim his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 US Open, or will Federer lay claim to further greatness with another Australian Open title?
All is now set for what should be an interesting and intriguing men’s final. Here is everything you need to know entering the first men’s major final of 2018.
[6] Marin Cilic (CRO) versus [2] Roger Federer (SUI)
Sunday, January 28
Not before 7:30pm
Rod Laver Arena
Head-to-head
All matches: Federer 8-1
At majors: Federer 3-1
At the Australian Open: First meeting
In finals: Federer 1-0
Last meeting: Federer 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-1, round robin, 2017 ATP Finals.
Last Grand Slam meeting: Federer 6-3, 6-1, 6-4, final, Wimbledon 2017.
Marin Cilic’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated [Q] Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5)
Round 2: defeated Joao Sousa (POR) 6-1, 7-5, 6-2
Round 3: defeated Ryan Harrison (USA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
Round 4: defeated [10] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-3)
Quarter-final: defeated [1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 2-0 ret.
Semi-final: defeated Kyle Edmund (GBR) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
Roger Federer’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
Round 2: defeated Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
Round 3: defeated [29] Richard Gasquet (FRA) 6-2, 7-5, 6-4
Round 4: defeated Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
Quarter-final: defeated [19] Tomas Berdych (CZE) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 6-4
Semi-final: defeated Hyeon Chung (KOR) 6-1, 5-2 ret.
( The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images )
Stats that matter
* This will be Marin Cilic’s third Grand Slam final, and first at the Australian Open, while for Roger Federer this will be his 30th Grand Slam final and seventh at the Australian Open.
* This will be the second meeting between the pair in a Grand Slam final in the past three tournaments.
* This will be the first time that Roger Federer has faced an opponent other than Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray or Andy Roddick more than once in a major final.
* If Federer wins, he will own the record for most Australian Open titles; he also holds the record for most Wimbledon titles with eight. Ironically, he would break the record at Melbourne Park by beating Cilic in the final, as he did at the All England Club last July.
* If Federer wins in straight sets, he will win the Australian Open without dropping a set for the second time after doing so in 2007.
* If Marin Cilic wins, he will become the fourth different man (after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro) to beat the Swiss Maestro in a major final.
* He would also become the first Croat, male or female, to win the Australian Open.
* He would also become the first man outside of the ‘Big Five’ (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Wawrinka) to win more than one major title since their emergence.
* Regardless of how he fares in the final, Cilic is guaranteed to rise to a career-high ranking of world number three.
* If Federer is victorious, he will be just 155 points behind Rafael Nadal in the rankings, and if neither play again until Indian Wells in March, the 36-year-old will become the oldest man to hold the world number one ranking (that’s if Nadal chooses not to play in Acapulco, where he is defending 300 points).
Prediction
Roger Federer in straight sets.
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