Ageless wonder sets stage for intriguing final
Federer’s only loss to Cilic came during 2014 U.S. Open semifinal
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA— There have certainly been better Australia Day tennis celebrations at Melbourne Park. There have undoubtedly been much longer Australia Day tennis celebrations at Melbourne Park.
Roger Federer did his part at age 36, but the next generation was unable to keep pace. Though Hyeon Chung 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.
Hampered by deep blisters on both feet, Chung, the emerging 21-yearold South Korean star, retired with Federer leading, 6-1, 5-2.
“I think I did the right thing,” Chung said after the match. “It really hurts. I can’t walk normal.”
Federer and Chung, in their first meeting, played for only 62 minutes. That was more than long enough for Federer to identify and exploit Chung’s weak points: his forehand under pressure, his first serve, his variety. There is no dishonour in any of that. Chung has years ahead of him to become a more complete threat, and his movement dropped off after the opening games, when he was sliding, Djokovic-style into the corners.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded Federer continues to bust through mental and physical barriers and will face another member of the tennis establishment, No. 6 seed Marin Cilic, of Croatia, in Sunday’s final. Federer said it was bittersweet to reach the final in the way he did.
It was surely bittersweet for the Australian Open organizers, as well. This is the only Grand Slam tournament that stages the men’s semifinals on separate days and Friday’s abbreviated match made for a very short main event.
“I knew he was having issues with his feet going into it,” Federer said of Chung. “But I knew he also had issues going into the match against Novak.
“He handled that very well, the same against (Tennys) Sandgren,” he added, referring to Chung’s four-set victory in the quarter-finals.
“For me, I was trying to block that away and just play Chung himself,” Federer said. “If he had no issues, well, that’s normal. If he has issues, well, bad luck for him and I’ll take advantage of it.”
Neville Godwin, Chung’s coach, said the problem began in earnest in the quarter-finals of the tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, earlier this month when Chung lost to David Ferrer.
“Hyeon always has calluses on his feet, which is normal, all the players have that,” Godwin said. “He just hadn’t shaved them down far enough, so in Auckland they started blistering and bruising underneath.”
Godwin said that when Chung arrived in Melbourne, he held up well for the first week, but he required anesthetizing injections in both feet before each of his last three matches. At this stage, he essentially had open wounds that were wrapped for play.
“These are serious injections,” Godwin said. “Each one lasts like a minute. The guy is biting into a towel for a minute, and you have to do it pretty close to match time, otherwise it wears off. So 45 minutes before a match, and he’s biting into a towel having someone jabbing his feet.”
Godwin said that it was Chung’s decision to take the injections and that the problem was a new one.
“We just basically ran out of time,” Godwin said. “He’s young and he had a great run, and it’s a very unfortunate time for it to happen, but he managed it the best that he could actually. He had three doctors, a podiatrist and five trainers running around after him the, sort of, last 10 days.”
On Monday, Chung will climb to No. 29 from 58th in the rankings; that is the highest singles ranking ever for a Korean player.
Federer said he believed Chung was “going to be a very good player,” but he resisted making predictions.
“I don’t like to put too much pressure on players by saying they’re going to win everything because I don’t think it’s fair,” he said. “A lot of experts, such-called experts, said I was going to be world No.1 and win everything. In a way it’s funny and cool, but it’s not so cool in hindsight. Afterwards, anything you achieve is normal. I find it disappointing. Getting to No. 1, winning Grand Slams, winning Masters 1000s, it ain’t normal. It’s extraordinary.”
The pundits do deserve credit in this instance for getting it right, however. Federer has indeed become one of the greatest players of all time.
Sunday’s duel with Cilic will be a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final, which, 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 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 first and 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 surprising title he won last year by prevailing in a series of tense five-setters.
His 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.