By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, January 28, 2018

Squealing sneakers sounded the urgency in Roger Federer’s feet and depth of his desire

Forced to a fifth set by Marin Cilic, Federer turned crunch time into rush hour, robbing his opponent of reaction time in achieving a timeless major milestone.

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Contesting his record 30th Grand Slam final, Federer soared through 12 of the final 13 points conquering Cilic, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, to successfully defend his Australian Open title and claim his record-extending 20th Grand Slam championship.

Serenaded by a sustained ovation from the Mebourne faithful, an emotional Federer broke down in tears of joy during the trophy presentation while legendary Rod Laver snapped photos from the front row.

Tears streamed down Federer's face as he thrust the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup aloft after an adventurous three hour, three-minute final off ebbs and flows and tactical adjustments from both men.

"I'm so happy it's unbelievable," Federer said. "Winning is just an absolute dream come true. The fairy tale continues for us, for me, after the great year I had last year. It’s incredible."

This was an emotionally-expressive Federer, who exhorted himself during a fifth-set changeover, erupted in a lion's roar of emotion toward his box at times and even flicked a sarcastic quipped at a linesman "good call, buddy" after a muffed call negated a return winner.

The man who famously tagged the AO Open as the “Happy Slam” is a history major.

Federer fought off Cilic for his third straight Grand Slam title, joining Novak Djokovic and Roy Emerson as the third man to win the Australian Open six times.

"It's about living the emotions that I went through tonight again at the trophy ceremony, going through a tough rollercoaster match, five-setter against Cilic, who is a great player, and then getting No. 6 here, No. 20 overall," Federer said. "It's just a very special moment.

"Defending my title from last year, sort of the fairytale continues. That's what stands out for me, maybe not equaling Emerson or Novak. They had their own unbelievable careers. I admire what they're doing and have done with Emo. Yeah, it's definitely a very special moment in my life again."

Playing a record seventh Melbourne final, Federer is the first man to win 20 Grand Slams and fourth champion in history—joining 24-time champion Margaret Court, 23-time champion Serena Williams and 22-time Slam winner Steffi Graf—to master 20 majors.



At the age of 36 years, 173 days, Federer is the second-oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era after Ken Rosewall, who won the 1972 Australian Open at 37.

This rematch of the 2017 Wimbledon final was played with the Rod Laver Arena roof closed due to the extreme heat policy.

Blown out in the opening set, Cilic stormed through the fourth and had a pair of break points to open the fifth. Federer quieted the uprising, firing 24 aces to conquer the Croatian for the ninth time in 10 meetings.

Cilic, who will rise to a career-high rank of No. 3, hit four more winners than Federer (45 to 41), but failed to take his chance at the start of the decider and paid the price.

“Today was a tough match,” Cilic said told the crowd. “I had a slight chance at the beginning of the fifth, but really Roger played a great, great fifth set.”

Contesting his seventh Australian Open final, Federer set the tone breezing to a 4-0 lead.

Bidding to become just the ninth man in the Open Era to beat both the top seeds at a Grand Slam, a jittery Cilic framed a smash into net gifting the break in the opening game.

Seeing his opponent tight, Federer soared through 10 consecutive points gaining triple break point in the third game.

Theoretically, the closed Rod Laver Arena roof should have presented ideal conditions for the server.

Realistically, the result was more unsightly.

When the Croatian sent his normally trusty two-handed backhand wide, the reigning champion was up 3-0 just 10 minutes into the match winning 10 of the first 12 points torching the Croatian’s kick second serve.

"I have to say that decision [to close the roof], you know, could it have been different? I guess so," Cilic said. "I think that it was just little bit difficult to adjust, especially the beginning of the match. With the roof closed, it was way, way cooler than I expected. That was very, very difficult, especially for the final to, you know, be in that kind of a situation."

After a flat start, the 2014 US Open champion finally got on the board 16 minutes into the match, but the damage was done.



Flying through service games, Federer fired a 121 mph ace for set point and closed the set in 25 minutes winning 16 of 18 points played on his first serve.

Smacking a backhand down the line, Cilic collected two break points in Federer’s first service game of the second set. Sliding an ace, the Swiss scalded a forehand winner punctuated with a loud “come on!” eventually holding for 1-all.

The Cilic two-hander, typically his most stable shot, was straying prompting him to punch his racquet face at one point before trying to run around his backhand and fire more forehands. Cilic, who was hitting his forehand with more vigor, dodged break point holding in the fifth game.

Straddling the baseline, Federer was cracking shots on the rise forcing the bigger man to defend. Cilic summoned a second serve ace denying a third break point of the set for 5-4.

Showing signs of nerve for the first time, Federer hit a second double fault to face set point in the 10th game, but a tight Cilic buried a backhand into the middle of the net.

In the tie break, Federer fired successive aces then the pair exchanged mini breaks. A massive forehand return from the Croatian set up a searing 98 mph forehand down the line for a second set point. Federer slid a serve winner to save it for 5-6.



Attacking net, Cilic knocked off a confident smash to take the set devoid of a break and level the match after 85 minutes.

Applying the slithering slice backhand more frequently, Federer’s finesse drew a netted backfhand for triple break point in the sixth game of the third set. Driving a deep return that elicited a scattered forehand Federer bellowed a loud “come on!” breaking for 4-2. The second seed backed up the break at 30.

Slashing his seventh ace of the set—and 19th of the evening—Federer sealed the third set with a love hold.



The skittish sixth seed, who sent his Head racquets out for restringing, bashed a backhand into net to face a break point.

Nudging a devious low chipped return, Federer dragged his opponent forward, breaking to open the fourth set when Cilic tapped a backhand into net. The reigning champion quickly raced out to a 3-1 lead and could see the finish line in sight.

Cilic had a different vision.

Losing the range on his first serve, Federer sailed a double fault—his first of the set—to face triple break point. Cilic crunched a forehand return registering his first break at love to level 3-all.

Dialing in his forehand return, Cilic gained double break point in the eighth game as Federer’s serve percentage dipped to 36 percent. Federer fought off both, but Cilic zapped a diagonal forehand to break for the second time in a row.

Powering a flat serve down the middle Cilic snatched his fifth straight game forcing the final set with a clenched fist after two hours, 30 minutes.

Bullying the 19-time Grand Slam champion around the court, Cilic gained two break points in the opening game of the decider. Federer fought both of prompting his entire box, including wife Mirka and mom Lynette, to pop out of their seats in support.

A two double fault game but Cilic in a break-point bind and when Federer sent a return right back into the body, the Croatian couldn’t cope. Federer seized a 2-0 lead in the decider then worked through a tight hold to confirm the break.



Exhorting himself on the changeover, a fired-up Federer would not let this lead slip.

The wheels came off Cilic’s game as he sprayed a backhand and netted a forehand donating the double break and a 5-1 lead.

Serving for his 20th Slam title, Federer opened with an ace then reached triple championship point on a Cilic error.



Federer caught line with second serve. Replay confirmed the serve was good capping a topsy-turvy three hour, three-minute triumph.

A superb sixth Australian Open title marked the first time since the 2008 US Open Federer successfully defended a major championship.


Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

From the squeals of his sneakers to the tracks of his tears, Federer showed fulfillment from winning a five-set final fight a year after he rallied past archrival Rafael Nadal in a dramatic duel that went the distance.

The past two Australian Open finals have been among the most exciting and emotionally-charged major finals of Federer's career.

This tearful coronation was inspired in part by the ovation of support from the Melbourne faithful.

"I hoped over time in the speech I would start to relax a little bit, but I couldn't," Federer said. "It was what it was. I wish it wasn't so sometimes. At the same time I'm happy I can show emotions and share it with the people. If I got emotional, it's because it was a full crowd again. No people in the stadium wouldn't make me emotional, I'll tell you that. This is for them really also."

No one beats advancing age, but the father of two sets of twins is still attacking it with fire and style.

"I have no idea [how long I can sustain this level]. I've won three slams now in 12 months," Federer said. "I can't believe it myself. I just got to keep a good schedule, stay hungry, then maybe good things can happen. Then I don't think age is an issue, per se. It's just a number."