Roger Federer has retained his Australian Open crown after beating Marin Cilic in fve sets in Melbourne. This was the Swiss' sixth victory at the tournament and the 36-year-old shows no signs of slowing down this year. The world number one overcame his Croatian opponent 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to retain his title.
The first set was a breeze for Federer as he dispatched his opposite number in just 24 minutes. He broke twice to race into a 4-0 lead and despite a slight fightback from Cilic, the set was in the bag. Nerves looked to be playing a part for the world number six as he struggled to get a foothold in the match.
The second set was much more successful for Cilic as he found some rhythm with his serve, his strongest weapon. Despite his strong serve, Federer was applying some pressure, one of Cilic's service games lasted nearly ten minutes but still he held firm.
This set was destined for a tie-break and even then it was difficult to split the two warriors. Cilic showed great tenacity to win the tie-break 7-5 and hand Federer his first lost set of the whole tournament. At one set all, this was turning into a cracker.
@cilic_marin sends shock waves through the crowd by handing Federer his first lost set for the tournament 7-6(5).
We're all square at a set a piece.
#AusOpen
The third set followed the same pattern as the second, but with Federer serving even better than usual. He hit the most aces in this match than he had this tournament and his returning was equally as good. He got the break late on in the set and this gave him the cushion to win the set 6-3.
The fourth set started with a bang for the Swiss ace as he broke Cilic in the first game and raced into a 3-1 lead. Cilic showed remarkable composure to fight his way back into the match, breaking back to level the set at 3-3 and then broke again, winning five successive games to win the set 6-3. The Fed fans could not believe how their man was being dragged around the court and outplayed as we headed into a fifth and final set.
Federer started the fifth exactly how he started the fourth, breaking Cilic to go into a 3-1 lead. Cilic could not put any pressure on his service games as the greatest of all time edged closer to his 20th Grand Slam title. Another break for Federer meant he was just a service game away from the title. He cruised through the final game like he was playing in the park, without dropping a point to defend his Australian Open title.
What a game, what a final. Credit must go to Marin Cilic for his battling spirit but you cannot stop Roger Federer. Simply the best tennis player of all time.
