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Federer wins sixth Australian Open, 20th Grand Slam

By Jacob Akindele
29 January 2018   |   3:42 am
The champion won the first set on two breaks of Cilic’s serve. In the second set, Cilic opened serving and held to lead 1-0 but Roger had to stave off three break points to level 1 game apiece.

Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Marin Cilic of Croatia 6/2; 6/7(4); 6/3; 3/6; 6/1 to win a duel that lasted three hour and 33 minutes on rod Laver Arena.

The champion won the first set on two breaks of Cilic’s serve. In the second set, Cilic opened serving and held to lead 1-0 but Roger had to stave off three break points to level 1 game apiece.

In the third game, Cilic was ahead 40-15 but two forehand errors took the score to deuce. Federer had the first advantage but it was erased by and ace timed at 198Kn/h. Cilic needed a fourth opportunity to keep the service game.

The set proceeded routinely except the break threats on Cilic’s serve in the fifth and ninth games.

Federer faced break point at 30-40 but Cilic’s unforced backhand error lost it, while a service winner and another missed backhand gave him the tenth game.

In the tie-break Cilic served first and a long rally ended with a miss by Roger. Two aces gave Roger a 2-1 lead. Cilic took the fourth point but a Roger service return winner gave him a 3-2 lead. Cilic made a service return winner to level 3-all.

After the changeover, Roger took his second service to lead 4-3. A net-cord gave Cilic the lead and an ace extended it to 5-4. A forehand return winner offered Cilic the min-break and he delivered an ace to win the set by seven points to five.

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