Roger Federer has beaten Marin Cilic to win the Australian Open, his 20th Grand Slam title.
The 36-year-old prevailed in a five-set encounter (6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1) over the Croatian, who played some of his best tennis but was not strong enough to beat Federer.
This is the Swiss tennis star’s sixth Australian Open title and makes him the oldest winner in Melbourne since Ken Rosewall in 1972.
On court during the presentation, an emotional Federer said: “I’m so happy, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s a dream come true and the fairytale continues.
“It’s been a long time waiting for this final. It’s easier in the afternoon, but when it’s at night you think about it all day.
“I’m happy it’s over now. After the year I had last year, it’s incredible.”
His opponent Cilic said: “It was an amazing journey for me to come here to the final.
“I had a slight chance at the beginning of the fifth, but Roger played a great fifth set.”
With the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena due to extreme heat, it was Federer who made a faultless start.
The final quickly turned into a nightmare for Cilic after he dumped a smash into the bottom of the net to lose serve in the opening game, before falling 4-0 down.
There was no way back for the sixth seed with the set already in the bag for Federer, who duly served it out in just 24 minutes.
Despite failing to take a set point opportunity when leading 4-5 in the second set, Cilic pounced in the tie-break with a superb forehand winner to bring up two set points at 6-4.
He then levelled the final up with a composed smash.
Federer responded with a scintillating spell culminating in a clinical break in the sixth game of the third set, before quickly wrapping it up with an ace in 29 minutes to move closer to the title.
The Swiss found his level of the first set again in the fourth with some blistering tennis and an early break looked to set the tone.
Despite this, Cilic conjured up his first break of the final to level up at 3-3.
It was only the fifth time Federer had been broken all tournament and the giant Croat broke through again in the eighth game before successfully serving it out to take the match to a deciding set shootout.
A determined Federer fought off a break point in the first game before re-establishing control to stop Cilic in his tracks and race to a 5-1 lead.
He needed only one match point, with Cilic netting a backhand return. The Croatian appealed to the Hawk-Eye review system but the serve just clipped the line.
Federer now moves four clear again of Rafael Nadal in terms of overall titles, only three behind Serena Williams and four adrift of all-time record holder Margaret Court.
Source: Skysports
