By Chris Oddo | Friday January 26, 2018
Hyeon Chung’s dream run at the 2018 Australian Open came to a crashing halt on Friday. The 21-year-old was forced to retire after 62 lopsided minutes on court with Roger Federer, falling 6-1, 5-2 RET, to send Federer through to his record 30th major final.
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Chung appeared to be overcome by the big stage while Federer relished it in the early going. The Swiss, playing in his 43rd Grand Slam semifinal, broke serve immediately then saved a break point before holding for 2-0. The break point was the only small window that Chung would see in the match as Federer broke twice more to run away with the first set and continued to roll through the second.
Meanwhile, Chung’s intensity and shotmaking slipped rapidly, and by the time he saw the trainer things were spiraling rapidly.
When he approached Federer ripped passing winners. On the long rallies that had been his domain for much of the tournament, he was hesitant and missed badly.
He took the medical timeout at 6-1, 4-1 down, and Federer waited while Chung had his heavily bandaged foot treated and redressed. The respite provided no relief, however. Chung pulled the plug two games later.
"In the second set I felt he was getting slower,” Federer said while doing his post-match interview with Jim Courier. “He's had a problem with the blister. It hurts—a lot. At some point it's too much and you make things worse. "Clearly I'm happy to be in the final but not like this. He's had such a wonderful tournament."
Federer moves on to face Marin Cilic in the final. The pair contested the Wimbledon final last summer and in that final Cilic was the victim of blisters as well. He finished the match but was a shell of himself for much of it, and was reduced to tears during a medical timeout during the match.
“[Cilic] had similar problem as Chung in the final at Wimbledon,” Federer told Courier. “It will help him that he's had two days off and he hasn't had to come through a tough semi-final. We'll see a fresh Marin.”
Federer owns an 8-1 lifetime edge over Cilic, with the Croatian’s lone win coming in 2014 when he defeated Federer in the semifinals of the U.S. Open and went on to win the title. Federer has won three in a row against Cilic.”