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Australian Open Men's Singles Final live scores, blog, highlights: Roger Federer vs Marin Cilic

28th January, 2018
Start time: 7:30pm (AEDT)
Court: Rod Laver Arena
TV: Live, Seven
Online: Live, 7Tennis app
Betting: Federer $1.25, Cilic $4.33
Overall record: Played 9, Federer 8, Cilic 1
Last meeting: ATP World Tour Finals 2017 - Federer defeat Cilic 6-7, 6-4, 6-1

Roger Federer last 10 matches: won 10, lost 0
Marin Cilic last 10 matches: won 8, lost 2
Switzerland's Roger Federer. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Expert
28th January, 2018
333
2274 Reads

Match result:

Roger Federer is suddenly within sight of the all-time grand slam title record after entering uncharted waters with an historic sixth Australian Open triumph.

» Click here to read the full match report

Final score
Marin Cilic 2 7 3 6 1
Roger Federer 6 6 6 3 6

Match preview:

It’s a replay of the 2017 Wimbledon final when Roger Federer and Marin Cilic fight it out to be delcared 2018 Australian Open champion. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage of the final from 7:30pm (AEDT).

While the pair have played a match since Wimbledon, with the ATP World Tour finals falling in favour of Federer, it’s the demolition job at Wimbledon which is remembered.

Federer didn’t drop a set for the entire tournament and after being pushed to a tie breaker, he ran away to take the final two 6-4, 6-1. The Fed Express never looked challenged throughout the match and Cilic simply couldn’t handle it.

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Cilic should put a better performance in on the hard court though. He has been in solid form throughout the first grand slam of the year and in a possible good omen, his only victory against Federer came in the semi-finals of the 2014 US Open. Cilic won that encounter in straight sets on his way to winning his first grand slam.

The Croatian has been in fine form throughout the tournament. He has to overcome Rafael Nadal in the quarter-final, then blasted past Kyle Edmund in straight sets.

With his semi-final being played on Thursday, an extra day of recovery will do the sixth seed well, given he has spent more time on court than Federer throughout the tournament.

Federer, chasing his 20th grand slam title in what is an incredible 30th grand slam final, doesn’t have a heap to recover from though given Hyeon Chung retired at the end of their second set in what was a one-sided semi-final.

It’s been a pattern of dominance for Federer who is yet to drop a set at the Open. While he has had a ridiculously easy run through and has only played Richard Gasquet (29th) and Tomas Berdych (19th) out of the seeded players, Federer hasn’t raised a sweat.

The biggest problem for opponents coming up against possibly the greatest player of all time has been trying to slow him down on serve.

Federer has a tendency to simply raise through service games, holding to love or 15, meaning pressure immediately goes back onto the racquet of his opponent. Cilic can’t let that happen – not only will he struggle to break serve, it inevitably leads for him going for too much on serve and mistakes following.

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Cutting out mistakes will be the other key for Cilic. He needs to stay patient, keep his first serve on track and defend well from the baseline, playing with depth to keep Federer back.

The problem we can have with Federer is that he hasn’t been tested yet. No one really knows where his level of fitness is at over five sets and certainly, he made some mistakes early on against Chung and Berdych, getting off to slow starts.

Prediction
Federer is going to be too good. It’s hard to find many issues or flaws in his game and while it won’t be as bad as Wimbledon, Federer won’t have too many problems taking a 20th grand slam title.

Federer in four sets.

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the men’s final at the Australian Open from 7:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment below.

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