Melbourne: Roger Federer fought off a fierce challenge from Croatia’s Marin Cilic to claim a record-equalling sixth Australian Open title with 6-2, 6-7(5-7), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory here Sunday.
With the Rod Laver Arena roof closed to spare the players on a witheringly hot day in Melbourne, the 36-year-old Swiss was gliding towards a 20th Grand Slam title when he took the opening set against a nervy opponent in 24 minutes.
For a while it looked horribly reminiscent of Cilic’s heavy defeat by Federer in last year’s Wimbledon final when the 29-year-old was hampered by blisters and broke down in tears.
But the sixth seed, playing in his first Australian Open final after knocking out injured World No.1 Rafael Nadal in the quarters, showed great resolve.
He saved break points at 1-1, 2-2 and 4-4 in the second set before crunching some huge forehands in the tiebreaker to level the match against all the odds.
Federer won the third set with a single break of serve but from a position of strength in the fourth he began to fade and lost five games on the spin as an increasingly dangerous Cilic dragged a slow-burning final into a decider.
Defending champion Federer regrouped though and after fighting off a break point at the start of the fifth, Cilic’s resistance crumbled as the crowd roared Federer on to victory.
“I‘m so happy, it’s unbelievable, it’s been a long day,” Federer said. “I‘m happy it’s over now. The fairytale continues for us, for me, it’s incredible,” said an emotional Federer as he cradled the Norman Brookes trophy.
Closed roof draws flak
Melbourne: The Australian Open men’s singles final got underway with the roof closed at Rod Laver Arena due to hot weather, triggering a hailstorm of criticism from former players. The roofs of the main showcourts at Melbourne Park are usually kept open unless the tournament’s extreme heat policy is invoked, when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) and a key humidity threshold has been surpassed. The temperature was 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 F) when Cilic and Federer took the court. Tournament organisers said the wet bulb globe temperature, or the humidity measure, was above its threshold of 32.5. “With no dramatic reduction in the WBGT reading forecast the referee exercised his discretion and called for the roof to be closed,” organisers said in a statement.
reuters