The legendary Swiss tennis player Roger Federer will rival Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić at Sunday's Australian Open final in Melbourne.
In the second semi-final match, Federer overcame 21-year-old Korean Hyeon Chung who surrendered in the duel against the Swiss player due to an injury. The game ended 6-1, 5-2, and it will be Federer who will face Čilić this Sunday, reports Gol.hr on January 26, 2018.
The Korean tennis player suffered the almost identical injury Marin Čilić faced in the final of last year's Wimbledon, which he played against Federer. Čilić, however, finished the match. On Sunday, he will once again be able to play against Switzerland’s legendary tennis star for the Grand Slam trophy. The will be the second time in their career that the two will meet in the finals.
This will be Marin’s third final in a Grand Slam tournament where he will try to win his second title after his triumph at the US Open in 2014. Then, he defeated Federer in three sets in the semi-finals. This was the only win for Čilić against Federer in their nine mutual duels. However, despite the convincing advantage of the 36-year-old player who will play at his 30th Grand Slam final on Sunday and fight for his 20th victory, he has a very high opinion of his Croatian rival.
"We saw what he could do against Rafe and Edmund and the confidence he has in his game. He has had the same problems as Chung and he defeated me at the US Open in 2014. He's a great guy, we were teammates at the Laver Cup, and we even trained together when we were both on holiday in the Maldives. We found ourselves holidaying in the same place, and we were both looking for someone to play against while we were there and ended up practicing in tropical conditions. I cannot wait for the finals to start,” Federer said after the semi-final win.
“Having two days off and not having had a brutal semi-final will help him a lot. We’ll see a fresh and ready Marin this time around,” added Federer.
Federer also claimed that Čilić’s US Open win in 2014 helped give him the confidence to be the player he is today.
“I like his attitude. He’s very professional. He’s always very much the same, regardless of whether he wins or loses. I like that attitude. On the court, he’s a winner. You can see it in the way he behaves on the court. He’s there to win and not just to be there. Sometimes you see other players and you feel like they’re happy to have made the quarters. I think he strives for more. I like those attitudes,” Federer concluded on The Independent on January 26, 2018.
