Marin Cilic and Roger Federer will meet in an another Grand Slam title match, this time in Australia. Federer handily beat Cilic in the Finals of Wimbledon last year, but Cilic is always going to be a tougher customer on a hardcourt. Will Federer win his 20th Grand Slam title at the expense of Cilic? Or will the younger Cilic spoil R-Fed’s party?
Roger Federer (ranked 2) is not new to success in the Land Down Under. In fact, he is no stranger to any form of success in tennis. The ageless tennis wonder has 19 Grand Slam titles under his belt, which includes the five he won in the Australian Open. The 36-year-old Federer sent Hyeon Cheung home in the semifinals with Cheung retiring just before the second set finished. In the quarters, Federer took care of business against No. 19 Tomas Berdych. The shortened match against Cheung should benefit Federer in the Finals, as it saved him extra gas for his 10th career showdown with Cilic. Federer is 8-1 overall against Cilic. The lats time he met the Croation, Federer eked out a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-1 victory in last year’s ATP World Tour Finals. Federer is coming off a strong 2017 campaign in which he has won seven singles titles, among them is an Australian Open and Wimbledon win.
Marin Cilic (ranked 6) only has one Grand Slam title, but he has a golden opportunity to take another one home this Sunday against the greatest of all time in the form of Roger Federer. Cilic will come into the finals unfazed, considering that he has already edged world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals (3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 2-0) via retirement. Prior to that, the 29-year-old Croatian took down No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta to the tune of a 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-3) score. In the semis he beat Kyle Edmund in straight sets. Cilic, who stands 6-foot-6, is a big server with 107 aces in this tournament so far. He has also put 64 percent of his first serves in and won 82 percent of them. Cilic has not had much success against Federer in the past (more on that later), but he defeated the Swiss great on a hardcourt back in the semis of the 2014 US Open before going all the way to win the tournament.
