Roger Federer will get to defend his Australian Open title on Sunday against Marin Cilic.
Federer cruised into the final after his semifinal opponent, Korea’s Hyeon Chung, retired with blisters on his left foot down 6-1, 5-2.
Chung had taken out Novak Djokovic, a potential Federer semifinal opponent, en route to his first Grand Slam semifinal.
Now Federer will try to win his 20th career major title against Cilic, whom Federer beat in last year’s Wimbledon final, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4, when Cilic himself was bothered by blisters. Federer, 36, is the oldest man to reach an Australian Open final since 1972.
“Clearly I’m incredibly happy to be in the finals but not like this,” Federer said on court.
Unfortunate scenes on @RodLaverArena with Hyeon #Chung forced to retire early in his Men’s Singles SF against @RogerFederer ?
Federer is through to his 7th final here at Melbourne Park. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/bjsGymyXB6
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2018
Chung’s agent, Stuart Duguid, explained the player’s condition after the match.
“Over the last few days, it was blister under blister under blister,” he said. “He had it shaved off. Now it’s red raw. They tried injections to see if it numbed the pain. It didn’t work.”
Asked how much pain he was in, Chung said: “I don’t know. I really hurt. I can’t walk no more.”
Federer leads Cilic 8-1 all-time, but Cilic crushed Federer in the 2014 US Open semifinals en route to his only major title.
“He brings the power and basically everything,” Federer said on court of Cilic, who beat top seed Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals when Nadal retired with a hip injury and then Brit Kyle Edmund in straight sets in the semis on Thursday. “Having two days off and not having a brutal semi, I think that’s going to help him a lot. We’ll see a fresh Marin.”
Of the US Open semifinal, Federer said: “He crushed me in that US Open semi. He did beat me badly. I’m excited to play against him. He’s a great guy. We won the Laver Cup together.”
“I think this is revenge for Cilic,” Mats Wilander said on Eurosport of the Wimbledon final.
A year ago, Federer hadn’t won a major since Wimbledon in 2012, but then beat Nadal in five sets in the final — after trailing 3-1 — to capture his 18th major. He went on to win Wimbledon for his 19th. Nadal won the French Open and US Open in 2017 and stands second all-time with 16 major titles.
“I was going to be happy if I won one more major before I retired,” Federer said. “Here I am. I won two more, maybe a third.”
Most career Grand Slam titles among men:
Federer – 19 (playing for 20 on Sunday)
Nadal – 16
Sampras – 14
Djokovic – 12
Emerson – 12
Borg – 11
Laver – 11 https://t.co/Gz2FwoilUO— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 26, 2018
‘One year ago you arrived here with 17 Grand Slams and now you can leave with 20’… pic.twitter.com/4WYMSQXU5e
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 26, 2018
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