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.

Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic entered the 2018 Australian Open on fire, becoming just the fifth team to win two ATP World Tour events leading up to the year’s first Grand Slam, capturing trophies at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the ASB Classic.

But while none of those first four teams advanced past the semi-finals at Melbourne Park, the Austrian-Croatian team surged all the way to its maiden Grand Slam title, defeating 11th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-4, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.

“I don’t know what to say,” Pavic said in disbelief. “I’m really happy with everything, with these two weeks, with the beginning of the year. We still haven’t lost a match.”

Marach and Pavic began their partnership at the Miami Open presented by Itau last March. But after three months and a 7-7 start, the pair considered splitting in Stuttgart.

Ever since, they have been one of the best teams on the ATP World Tour, reaching the final that week (l. Murray/Soares) at the Mercedes Cup. They have not looked back, earning four tour-level titles as a team and advancing to three finals, including 2017 Wimbledon, falling in a heartbreaking fifth-set, 13-11, against Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.

And while the team appeared at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals as alternates, Marach and Pavic are well on their way to qualifying for the season finale in London this year.

“What can I say? I’m a little bit speechless,” Marach said. “Since last year we’ve grown together unbelievably. We’ve had really unbelievable runs and I hope we can continue this year. I enjoyed every minute being with you on the court and I hope we can continue like that.” 

In their second major final, Marach and Pavic did not let slip their opportunity. They broke at 4-4 in both sets, and Marach sealed the title with a big serve down the middle that elicited a return into the net by Farah.

“These guys are playing amazing this year,” Cabal said.

It is Marach’s 20th tour-level title and he wins the trophy at Melbourne Park on his 12th attempt, the second longest it took for an Australian Open champion (Leander Paes, 17 attempts). Pavic, who earns his 11th tour-level crown, is the second Croatian player to win a men’s doubles Grand Slam championship (Ivan Dodig, 2015 Roland Garros). He is also the youngest (24 years, 207 days) to triumph at the Australian Open in men’s doubles since Michael Llodra (23 years, 259 days) in 2004.

“It was tough for us. It was not easy because we had a lot of matches from Doha on, a lot of traveling also. We went to Auckland, had a long flight and everything,” Pavic said. “We didn’t really had a lot of days off or nothing. We kept on playing and playing and playing. It was getting tougher. Quarters, semis, I think we didn’t play our best tennis. But just that confidence that we brought on from those tournaments and the wins and everything helped us a lot actually.”

Cabal and Farah, who did not lose a set prior to the final, were bidding to become the first Colombians to win a men’s doubles major title. Cabal is one of two Colombians to win any Grand Slam, triumphing at the Australian Open in mixed doubles last year with Abigail Spears.

Marach and Pavic earn 2,000 ATP Doubles Rankings points and claim their share of $700,000, while Cabal and Farah capture 1,200 points and split $350,000.

Pavic will be back in action Sunday as he partners Gabirela Dabrowski against Rohan Bopanna and Timea Babos for the mixed doubles title.

“I don’t let you sleep. I don’t care,” Marach joked.

“It’s going to be tough,” Pavic said. “[But] I have to celebrate enough.”