Cilic is knocking at the Big Four door
REACHES OPEN FINAL
Marin Cilic is in exclusive company at the Australian Open.
With his 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-2 semifinal win over 49th-ranked Kyle Edmund, Cilic became only the second man from outside the “Big Four” to reach the final at season-opening major in a decade.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have dominated the men’s finals since 2009, with only ’14 champion Stan Wawrinka breaking the quartet’s court occupation in the championship match.
Cilic, 29, the first Croatian to make the final at Melbourne Park, could face the founding member of the “Big Four” in the final on Sunday. That’s if defending champion Federer can get past Hyeon Chung on Friday.
Cilic lost to Federer in last year’s Wimbledon final, where he was injured and struggling at the end. This time, he has held off No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta and top-ranked Rafael Nadal and thinks, with two days to rest before the final, he’ll be in better shape.
“I’m feeling really, really good physically,” he said. “I played a great tournament so far with my level of tennis.
“I improved it comparing to end of the last year. I’m playing much, much more aggressive — feeling really excited about the final, too.”
It’ll be a third major final for Cilic, who beat Federer in the semifinals at the ’14 U.S. Open before going on to win his breakthrough Grand Slam title.
He reached the semifinals in Melbourne in ’10, then waited 16 more majors to surpass that level by reaching that U.S. Open final.
The long wait didn’t bother him. Besides, his 10 attempts to reach the Australian final equalled an Open era record held by 1980 runner-up Kim Wawrick.
Cilic was under pressure early against Edmund and had to fend off break points in the opening game. He held and quickly got on top in the first set and, after maintaining his composure in a nervy second-set tiebreaker, quickly established a break in the third set.
Wins over U.S. Open runner-up Kevin Anderson in the first round and in the quarterfinals over third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov took a toll on Edmund, who needed a medical timeout.
“Well, obviously just disappointed I lost, but yeah, I mean, it’s been a really good couple of weeks for me,” he said. “Just got the experience of going deep in a Slam for the first time and all the stuff that comes with it. Playing a couple matches on Rod Laver.
“Obviously disappointed right now, but can be very happy with the way I’ve gone about things. … Won some tough matches. Beat good players.”