Federer stands one win away from 20th major

Easy path to final leads to No. 6 Cilic

MELBOURNE, Australia — It took just over an hour for Roger Federer to fix one anomalous statistic in his extraordinary career.

The defending champion, who was leading Hyeon Chung 6-1, 5-2 when the Korean retired in the second set of their Australian Open semifinal Friday night, is within one win of a 20th Grand Slam singles title.

Going into the match against Chung, Federer had a below-par semifinals record at Melbourne Park, only six wins out of 13.

After 1 hour and 2 minutes under the closed roof on Rod Laver Arena, he’s on par at 7-7 but still well below his marks at the other majors: 11-1 at Wimbledon, 7-3 at the U.S. Open, and 5-2 at Roland Garros.

“You do take the faster matches whenever you can because there’s enough wear and tear on the body,” he said. “The thought process is not like ‘What would have been better?’

“That’s why this one feels bittersweet. I’m incredibly happy to be in the finals, but not like this.”

Chung tried everything to disguise the pain on his left foot which, his agent explained, were “blisters under blisters under blisters.”

Federer is well poised for Sunday’s match against No. 6-seeded Marin Cilic. Cilic has had an extra day of rest, but Federer was hardly taxed on Friday night.

The final will be Federer’s record seventh at the Australian Open and 30th at a Grand Slam. Even if Chung had been fit, he was trying to reach his first ATP final against a player who has won 95 titles, 19 of them majors.

Chung needed a pain-killing injection before the match, and a medical timeout to retape his left foot after going down a break in the second set. He played only two more games before retiring.

“I did right thing. If I play bad on the court, it’s not good for the fans and audience as well,” he said. “I really hurt.”