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Switzerland’s
Roger Federer holds the trophy as he celebrates beating Croatia’s Marin Cilic
in their men’s singles final match on day 14 of the Australian Open tennis
tournament in Melbourne on January 28, 2018. Saeed Khan / AFP
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A tearful Roger Federer
powered home to beat Marin Cilic in five riveting sets to win his sixth
Australian Open and 20th Grand Slam title on Sunday.
AFP
report continues:
The
Swiss defending champion dropped his only sets of the tournament before
completing a 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over the sixth seeded Croatian
in 3hr 3min.
Federer,
playing in his 30th Grand Slam final, joined Novak Djokovic and Australian
great Roy Emerson as joint top for the most Australian Open men’s titles. “I’m
so happy it’s unbelievable. This is a dream come true, the fairytale continues
for me,” Federer said at the presentation.
“After
the great year last year, it’s incredible,” the 36-year-old added as he broke
down in tears.
Federer
added to his already imposing win-loss record in Melbourne and is now 94-13.
His overall his Grand Slam mark stands at 332-52.
“It
was an amazing journey to come to the final. It could have been the best two
weeks of my life, but Roger played a great fifth set,” Cilic said.
“I
want to thank my team, you’re unbelievable. We worked hard for this year,
hopefully we will lift these trophies in the future.”
The
roof was closed over Rod Laver Arena as the tournament’s heat policy was
implemented amid evening temperatures of 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).
Cilic’s
serve came under immediate pressure with a whipping backhand return winner for
break point which the Croatian followed with a smash into the net for a break
in the opening game.
The
Croat was finding it difficult to settle and changed racquets in his second
service game, but it had no obvious benefit as he dropped serve again after
three break points to trail 0-3.
He
finally held serve to get on the board but the Swiss star was too good, serving
out the set in just 24 minutes after a shaky Cilic opening.
Big
moment
Federer
fought off two break points in his opening service in the second set with
pinpoint serves, while Cilic had a tussle before holding in the third game.
Cilic
worked his way back into the match as both players traded furious forehands to
stay on serve.
Cilic
was break point down in the ninth, but crucially got out of it with a second
serve ace down the middle followed by a forehand winner.
The
Croat had a big moment in the 10th game when two Federer double faults gave him
set point, but a tentative backhand into the net and a wild backhand cost him
his chance.
In
the tiebreaker, Cilic got to two set points when his forehand clipped the line
before a winning smash levelled the match as Federer dropped his first set of
the tournament.
But
Cilic lost serve on the back of a couple of ground stroke errors and Federer
raced 4-2 up in the third set.
The
defending champion shifted gears with a stunning forehand off his toes and
confidently held serve to lead 5-2 before clinically serving out the set in 29
minutes.
Cilic
was then broken in the opening game of the fourth set with a poor backhand
dropshot into the net as Federer closed in for the kill.But the Croat broke
back in the sixth game with three break points when Federer netted and fought
off a break point in the next game to put his nose in front.
Cilic
was now more in the flow and broke Federer again with his big forehands
starting to find their mark. He served it out to take the absorbing final into
a fifth.
But Federer stayed calm and produced quality backhands to hold on to his serve amid mounting tension. The world No.2 crucially broke to 2-0 and got a vital double break when Cilic netted a forehand, leaving him to serve out for the championship.
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