Federer goes for 20th major after South Korean retires
MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer surely will have a longer day Sunday at Melbourne Park when he faces Marin Cilic in the Australian Open final than he did Friday.
On Australia Day in the men’s semifinals, Federer did his part at age 36, but the next generation was unable to keep pace. Though South Korea’s Hyeon Chung, 21, was able to defeat Novak Djokovic and two other seeded players in this Australian Open, he was unable to get through the second set against Federer in the semifinals because of blisters, retiring with Federer leading 6-1, 5-2.
The second-seeded Federer, the defending champion, continues to bust through mental and physical barriers and Sunday’s duel with the sixthseeded Cilic will be a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final, That match, like Friday night’s semifinal, also turned into an anticlimax because of foot blisters: Cilic began crying on a changeover at the frustration of not being able to perform his best.
Cilic has had an extra day of rest, but Federer was hardly taxed Friday in a match that lasted only 62 minutes.
Cilic has beaten Federer just once in nine matches, but it was a significant victory, coming in the semifinals of the 2014 U.S. Open en route to Cilic’s only major singles title.
He presumably will need his top gear again Sunday to trouble Federer, who has yet to drop a set as he defends the title he won last year by prevailing in a series of tense five-setters.
Federer’s return visit has been much shorter on drama but not on statistical import. This will be Federer’s seventh Australian Open final, a men’s Open era record. It will be his 30th Grand Slam singles final, building on his own men’s record.
If he beats Cilic, Federer will have 20 major singles titles, increasing his record total among men to a nice round number that seemed all but unreachable when Djokovic was dominating the game in the first half of 2016.
Djokovic has fallen back because of an elbow injury, but Federer glides on — thoroughly in his element.