Marin Cilic was close, just not close enough.

Playing with great focus and pin-point accuracy on his world class groundstrokes, the 29 year old Croatian battled back from a break down in the fourth set and found himself with break points of his own to start the decisive set in the Australian Open final, which would see Roger Federer emerge victorious after three tense hours. 

One return into the net. One wide. 

And that was it. 

Federer would run away with the fifth set, claiming his record-equaling sixth Australian Open crown (alongside Roy Emerson, Novak Djokovic) and an unprecedented 20^th Grand Slam title in the Swiss’ storied career. Cilic had come so close to achieving a second Grand Slam success following his triumph at the US Open in 2014, yet came up short once more. 

Nevertheless, Cilic remained optimistic about his showing in the final, becoming the only player over the fortnight to take a set – two, in fact – off of the defending champion, who had hitherto maneuvered his way through the draw with relative ease. 

“I was hitting the ball great. I was just playing phenomenal,” said the Croatian. “Then first game of the fifth set was more or less crucial at the end with having those… break points that I didn’t convert. [It was] just a little bit tougher game, my [next] service game… [It] just ran away from me. 

“But looking overall, I’m really pleased with the performance,” he added, assessing his efforts, which included 45 winners and 16 aces. “[I] played great tennis over these two weeks. I had tough matches, tough opponents, beating Rafa [Nadal], reaching [the] final, which is definitely amazing. Looking at my own game, I think I improved a lot. I’m playing great tennis. That’s really exciting for me for this 2018.”

Cilic will rise to No. 3 in the ATP Rankings next week, eclipsing his career-best of No. 4 achieved in the fall of last year. Citing multiple improvements in his game, the 29-year-old has his eyes on the top prizes – and the top ranking – in the coming season. 

“My ultimate goal is to reach No. 1,” said Cilic. “That’s what I’m working for. Even in these last one or two years, the progress that I did is big. Last year, I improved a lot in different areas. Now in these last couple months, I improved even more. So that gives me big confidence.”

As the ATP World Tour picks up pace again in February, Cilic is slated to play a series of clay court events in South America before he tries for his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown (Cincinnati 2016) at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open presented by Itau. With “World No. 3” as his titular heading into the next swing of the 2018 season, Cilic is taking nothing for granted.

“No. 3 feels and looks amazing, especially behind [Federer and Nadal] as well. But I know how difficult it is, knowing as well Novak and Andy [Murray] and many other guys had a tough last season. For me it’s a great time that I improved and that I am continuing to improve. Big times ahead for me.” 

Roger Federer is within reach of the No. 1 ATP Ranking for the first time in over five years after successfully defending his Australian Open title at Melbourne Park on Monday. But he needs to act fast!

Federer, who last held the top spot on 4 October 2012, moved to within 155 points of Rafael Nadal after claiming his 20th Grand Slam title and could dethrone Nadal as World No. 1 in early March when the ATP World Tour 500 events in Dubai and Acapulco conclude.

On 5 March, Nadal will drop the 300 points he earned last year by reaching the Acapulco final (l. Querrey). Federer, who suffered a shock second-round loss to Evgeny Donksoy in the Dubai second round last year, will drop just 45 points.

Federer is yet to announce whether he will take a wild card into Dubai. Nadal is entered to play Acapulco.

Should Federer not play Dubai, Nadal will need to reach the semi-finals of Acapulco to retain No 1. If Federer does play Dubai, his fate will be in his own hands. The Swiss can clinch No. 1 by winning the title. But anything less than his 97th career title will not be enough if Nadal wins the Acapulco title.

Federer, who last year stayed true to his word to put playing schedule and health ahead of chasing No. 1, may see Dubai as his best near-term opportunity to add to the 302 weeks he has amassed at the top of the men’s game. In March, Federer has 2000 points to defend after last year’s back-to-back ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title runs in Indian Wells and Miami. Nadal, in that same period, has 690 points to defend. That is 1310 points less than Federer.

Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Croatia’s Mate Pavic saved one championship point in the Match tie-break to capture the Australian Open mixed doubles title on Sunday.

Fifth seeds Pavic and Dabrowski scraped past India’s Rohan Bopanna and Timea Babos of Hungary, the eighth seeds, 2-6, 6-4, 11-9 in 68 minutes under a closed roof on Rod Laver Arena. The tournament’s organisers had enforced the extreme heat policy as the temperature neared 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The victory comes less than 24 hours after Pavic partnered Oliver Marach to the men’s doubles title, with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.

“It feels pretty good, I have to say,” Pavic said of his two titles this fortnight. “I did not imagine that I’m able to do that. If somebody would have told me, I wouldn’t believe him.”

Pavic and Dabrowski won the first three points of the Match tie-break and failed to convert championship points at 6/4 and 8/7. At 6/6, Bopanna struck a forehand past Debrowski for a first championship point, but Pavic coolly hit two consecutive aces. Debrowski hit the winning stroke with a forehand return winner.

Pavic also won the 2016 US Open mixed doubles title with Laura Siegemund, while Dabrowski partnered Bopanna to the 2017 Roland Garros crown.

Roger Federer and Marin Cilic were both in The Maldives on vacation at the end of November, following the 2017 ATP World Tour season.

“I didn’t want to bother him. He didn’t want to bother me,” Federer recalled following his semi-final on Friday. “After two days, he wrote me: ‘I’m here, too, in case you want to catch up and stuff, let me know’.”

^{Photo Credit: Marin Cilic}
The pair practised twice for 45 minutes and even got together for drinks with their families.

“It’s great fun. No coaches, no nothing, just the two of us on the court hitting balls,” Federer said. “It was just nice and laid back, to get to know the man behind the tennis player.”

Now the setting will be on Rod Laver Arena instead of a tropical island and the stakes will be infinitely higher, as the Swiss attempts to claim his 20th Grand Slam title and retain his Australian Open trophy against Cilic, who defeated Federer en route to his lone major triumph at the 2014 US Open.

“It would be amazing,” said Federer, who can join Novak Djokovic and Roy Emerson as the only players to win six Australian Open titles. “I can’t believe how fast now the week has turned out to be. Yeah, I mean, it ain’t just an easy trip to the finals. There’s always a lot of work that goes into it during the tournament.”

But with that being said, the World No. 2 has been impressive, advancing to the final without dropping a set. Federer can join Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg atop the record book by winning a Grand Slam without losing a set three times. The Swiss could become the first to do it in Melbourne.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the Australian Open final & vote for the player you think will win! 
Federer vs Cilic

Cilic will be a tough test, though. The 29-year-old beat top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals one round after taking out No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno Busta in a three-hour, 27-minute battle. The right-hander can become the ninth man in the Open Era to oust the top two seeds at a Grand Slam if he defeats Federer. Only four have accomplished the feat at the Australian Open.

And if Cilic earns the title, becoming the first Croatian to do so, he will avenge a loss against Federer in the 2017 Wimbledon final. Cilic was once again in form, defeating four seeds en route to the final, but blisters hampered his chances against the now 19-time Grand Slam champion.

“I’m not looking at it as a revenge. I mean, it was on me that I couldn’t give my best in Wimbledon. And that happens,” Cilic said. “But for me it’s great to again be in the final, giving myself another opportunity to win a Grand Slam. I’m playing very good tennis, and definitely very excited for the rest of 2018.”

Cilic will have to continue playing at a high level to have a chance against Federer, who leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 8-1.

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Roger Federer vs. Marin Cilic, Past Five Matches

A year ago, the Swiss took Melbourne by surprise when he won his first Slam since 2012 Wimbledon as the 17th seed after six months off due to injury. But this time Federer arguably entered the fortnight as the standalone favourite after winning an ATP World Tour-leading seven titles, including two majors (Australian Open, Wimbledon), in 2017.

“I just have to play a good match. At this point it’s not about having to improve anything in particular,” Federer said. “I’m just pleased that actually my game has been good from the very beginning of the tournament so far. I mean, I’ve won all my matches without dropping a set. Clearly I was a bit lucky against [Tomas] Berdych in that first set [in the quarter-finals]. But things must be all right if I’m in this stage right now not having dropped a set and in the finals.”

Federer also has the advantage of a lopsided FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Cilic. The 36-year-old, who is the fifth-oldest (36 years, 173 days) to advance to a Grand Slam final in the Open Era, has won their past three meetings, and three of four at the majors. But the Croatian believes that he has worked hard to set himself up in the match with a fighters’ chance.

“I think in tennis, in general, if you are not improving, you are getting worse as a player, because everyone else is improving… you have to always find a way to get better and better,” Cilic said. “I did good analysis I think of the last season. Found some things that can improve my game, some small details in the game that I focused on. It’s working really nicely in the start of this year.”

Cilic will hope that it is enough to earn him a second Grand Slam title, as the pair competes for 2,000 ATP Rankings points and $4,000,000 in prize money. The runner-up will fly home with 1,200 points and $2,000,000.