2018 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
DAY 14 MEN’S NOTES
Sunday 28 January
Singles Final
2 ROGER FEDERER (SUI) v NO. 6 MARIN CILIC (CRO)
This is the 106th edition of the Australian Championships, which began in 1905, as well as being the 50th Australian Open and the 200th Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era. Melbourne Park is hosting the tournament for the 31st year. It was first played here in 1988, when the venue was known as Flinders Park.
| (Seed) Player | Country | Age | Ranking | Best Australian Open performance | Best Grand Slam performance |
| (2) Roger Federer | SUI | 36 | 2 | W 2004, 06-07, 10, 17 | 19 Grand Slam titles |
| (6) Marin Cilic | CRO | 29 | 6 | Final 2018 | W 2014 US Open |
At stake for the finalists, in addition to the prestige of the Australian Open title, is the following:
AUD$ |
ATP Ranking Points |
|
| Champion | 4,000,000 | 2000 |
| Finalist | 2,000,000 | 1200 |
ATP Rankings update…
Rafael Nadal ensured he would remain as No. 1 when the new rankings are released on Monday 29 January by reaching the quarterfinals here. Federer will remain at No. 2 regardless of the result in today’s final, while Cilic has ensured that he will rise to a new career-high ranking of No. 3 by reaching the final.
Projected rankings
| Position | Player | ATP Ranking points |
| 1. | Rafael Nadal | 9760 |
| 2. | Roger Federer | Win: 9605/Lose: 8805 |
| 3. | Marin Cilic | Win: 5760/Lose: 4960 |
| 4. | Grigor Dimitrov | 4630 |
| 5. | Alexander Zverev | 4610 |
| 6. | Dominic Thiem | 4060 |
| 7. | David Goffin | 3460 |
| 8. | Jack Sock | 2880 |
| 9. | Juan Martin del Potro | 2815 |
| 10. | Pablo Carreno Busta | 2705 |
Who has the advantage?
Over the last 10 years, 5 of the men’s singles champions here have played the first semifinal and 5 played the 2nd semifinal – so recent history would suggest that which semifinal each player contested makes no difference to whether they go on to win the title.
No. 2 v No. 6
This is the 5th meeting between the No. 2 and No. 6 seeds in a men’s singles Grand Slam final in the Open Era – and the first at the Australian Open. The No. 2 seed has won on 3 of those match-ups – when Federer defeated Andy Murray at the 2008 US Open and Andy Roddick at 2009 Wimbledon, and when Murray defeated Milos Raonic at 2016 Wimbledon. The No. 6 has defeated the No. 2 seed in the final just once – when Michael Stich defeated Boris Becker at 1991 Wimbledon.
This is the 22nd occasion that a No. 6 seed has reached a men’s singles Grand Slam final in the Open Era – winning the title on 10 occasions and finishing runner-up on 11 occasions. The most-recent No. 6 seed to win a Grand Slam title was Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated No. 1 seed Federer at the 2009 US Open.
If he wins today, Cilic would become the 3rd No. 6 seed to win the Australian Open title in the Open Era – after Petr Korda, who defeated No. 9 seed Marcelo Rios in 1998, and Andre Agassi, who defeated No. 15 seed Arnaud Clement in 2001. He is the 5th No. 6 seed to reach the final here after Korda, Agassi, John Sadri (who fell to No. 1 seed Guillermo Vilas in 1979) and Murray (who fell to No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic in 2015).
Murray is the most-recent No. 2 seed to win a Grand Slam title – at 2016 Wimbledon.
Beating the Top 2
Having defeated No. 1 seed Nadal in the quarterfinals, Cilic could become just the 9th man in the Open Era to beat both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds at a Grand Slam – and just the 4th man to achieve the feat at the Australian Open. Stan Wawrinka and Mats Wilander are the only men to achieve the feat twice.
Players defeating Top 2 seeds at a Grand Slam (Open Era)
| Player | Event | No. 1 seed | No. 2 seed |
| Manuel Orantes | 1975 US Open | Jimmy Connors (Defeated F) | Guillermo Vilas (Defeated SF) |
| Mark Edmondson | 1976 Australian Open | Ken Rosewall (Defeated SF) | John Newcombe (Defeated F) |
| Mats Wilander | 1983 Australian Open | Ivan Lendl (Defeated F) | John McEnroe (Defeated SF) |
| Mats Wilander | 1985 Roland Garros | John McEnroe (Defeated SF) | Ivan Lendl (Defeated F) |
| Boris Becker | 1989 Wimbledon | Ivan Lendl (Defeated SF) | Stefan Edberg (Defeated F) |
| Stefan Edberg | 1990 Wimbledon | Ivan Lendl (Defeated SF) | Boris Becker (Defeated F) |
| Michael Stich | 1991 Wimbledon | Stefan Edberg (Defeated SF) | Boris Becker (Defeated F) |
| Sergi Bruguera | 1993 Roland Garros | Pete Sampras (Defeated QF) | Jim Courier (Defeated F) |
| Stan Wawrinka | 2014 Australian Open | Rafael Nadal (Defeated F) | Novak Djokovic (Defeated QF) |
| Stan Wawrinka | 2015 Roland Garros | Novak Djokovic (Defeated F) | Roger Federer (Defeated QF) |
| Marin Cilic?? | 2018 Australian Open?? | Rafael Nadal (Defeated QF) | v Roger Federer (F) |
Wimbledon final repeat
This match-up is a repeat of the 2017 Wimbledon final, which Federer won in straight sets. Federer has reached 7 finals at the Australian Open, 5 finals at Roland Garros, 11 finals at Wimbledon and 7 finals at the US Open, while Cilic has reached one Wimbledon final and one US Open final, and is making his Australian Open final debut here today.
The last time the same 2 players contested a Wimbledon final in one year and then the Australian Open final in the subsequent year was in 2011-12, when Djokovic defeated Nadal in both the 2011 Wimbledon final and the 2012 Australian Open final.
Australian Open final debut
Cilic is looking to become the first player to win the Australian Open title on his debut in the final since Wawrinka won the title here on his first appearance in the final in 2014. In the Open Era, 21 men have won the Australian Open title on their debut appearances in the final. (NB Not including Rod Laver or Ken Rosewall, who appeared in pre-Open Era finals here prior to winning their first Australian titles in the Open Era)
Federer has a 19-10 win-loss record in Grand Slam finals, while Cilic has a 1-1 win-loss record in title matches at the majors.
The Old Boys’ Club
If Federer wins today, the last 6 Grand Slam titles will have been shared between players aged 30 or older. The last player aged younger than 30 to win a major title was Murray (aged 29 years 56 days) at 2016 Wimbledon.
The longest previous streak of Grand Slam titles won by players aged 30 or older was when Laver won all 4 Grand Slam titles in 1969.
Cilic was the only player aged younger than 30 to reach a Grand Slam final in 2017.
Breaking the ‘Big 4’
Cilic is just the 2nd player outside the ‘Big 4’ of Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal to reach the final here since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finished runner-up in 2008. In that time, Wawrinka, who won the title in 2014 on his only Australian Open final appearance to date, is the only player outside of the ‘Big 4’ to reach the final here.
The Federer-Nadal resurgence
If Federer wins today, it will be the 5th consecutive Grand Slam title that has been won by either Federer or Nadal – which would mark the 3rd-longest streak of Grand Slam titles won exclusively by the pair.
Longest streaks of Grand Slam titles won by Federer and Nadal
| Length of streak | Federer’s titles | Nadal’s titles |
| 11 Grand Slams (2005 Roland Garros-2007 US Open) | 2005-07 Wimbledon, 2005-07 US Open, 2006-07 Australian Open | 2005-07 Roland Garros |
| 6 Grand Slams (2008 Roland Garros-2009 Wimbledon) | 2008 US Open, 2009 Roland Garros, 2009 Wimbledon | 2008 Roland Garros, 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Australian Open |
| 5 Grand Slams?? (2017 Australian Open-present??) | 2017 Australian Open, 2017 Wimbledon, 2018 Australian Open?? | 2017 Roland Garros, 2017 US Open |
| 4 Grand Slams (2010 Australian Open-2010 US Open) | 2010 Australian Open | 2010 Roland Garros, 2010 Wimbledon, 2010 US Open |
Head-to-head: Federer leads 8-1
2008 AMS Paris Hard (I) R16 Federer 63 64
2011 Monte Carlo-1000 Clay (O) R16 Federer 64 63
2011 US Open Hard (O) R32 Federer 63 46 64 62
2012 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) QF Federer 63 64
2014 Toronto-1000 Hard (O) R16 Federer 76(5) 67(3) 64
2014 US Open Hard (O) SF Cilic 63 64 64
2016 Wimbledon Grass (O) QF Federer 67(4) 46 63 76(9) 63
2017 Wimbledon Grass (O) FR Federer 63 61 64
2017 ATP Finals Hard (I) RR Federer 67(5) 64 61
A 10th career meeting for the pair, their 7th on a hard court, their 5th at a Grand Slam, and their 2nd in a final.
Federer has won the pair’s 3 most recent meetings – including coming back from 0-2 down for the 10th time in his career to win in 5 sets in the quarterfinals at 2016 Wimbledon.
If Cilic wins today’s final in straight sets, he will become just the 5th player to defeat Federer in straight sets at a Grand Slam on 2 or more occasions. Only Novak Djokovic (3 times), Arnaud Clement, Alex Corretja and Rafael Nadal (all twice) have recorded multiple straight-sets wins against Federer at the majors.
FEDERER v CILIC
36 Age 29
6’1”/1.85m Height 6’6”/1.98m
2 ATP Ranking 6
111,885,682 Career Earnings (US$) 20,944,791
95 Titles 17
Won 19 titles Best Grand Slam Result Won 2014 US Open
331-52 Career Grand Slam Record 102-38
93-13 Australian Open Record 26-9
1138-250 Career Record 443-233
710-139 Career Record – Hard 276-138
6-0 2018 Record 8-1
6-0 2018 Record – Hard 8-1
29-20 Career Five-Set Record 27-12
10 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 5
419-224 Career Tiebreak Record 166-143
3-0 2018 Tiebreak Record 6-2
Road to the final
| FEDERER | Time | Time | CILIC | |
| d. Aljaz Bedene 63 64 63 | 1:39 | 1st round | 3:17 | d. (Q) Vasek Pospisil 62 62 46 76(5) |
| d. Jan-Lennard Struff 64 64 76(4) | 1:55 | 2nd round | 1:45 | d. Joao Sousa 61 75 62 |
| d. No. 29 Richard Gasquet 62 75 64 | 1:59 | 3rd round | 2:29 | d. Ryan Harrison 76(4) 63 76(4) |
| d. Marton Fucsovics 64 76(3) 62
d. No. 19 Tomas Berdych 76(1) 63 64 d. Hyeon Chung 61 5-2 ret. (blisters) |
2:01
2:14 1:02 |
Round of 16
Quarterfinals Semifinals |
3:27
3:47 2:18 |
d. No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta 67(2) 63 76(0) 76(3)
d. No. 1 Rafael Nadal 36 63 67(5) 62 2-0 ret. (right leg) d. Kyle Edmund 62 76(4) 62 |
| total time on court | 10:50 | (SMT time) | 17:03 | total time on court |
- Defending champion FEDERER is bidding to win his 20th Grand Slam title and become just the 4th player – man or woman – to win 20 or more major titles.
Most Grand Slam titles (all-time)
| Player | No. of titles |
| Margaret Court | 24 |
| Serena Williams | 23 |
| Steffi Graf | 22 |
| Roger Federer | 20?? |
| Helen Wills Moody | 19 |
| Chris Evert
Martina Navratilova |
18
18 |
Active players in bold
- Federer is bidding to win his 6th Australian Open title and go joint-top on the list for most Australian men’s singles titles, ahead of Novak Djokovic and Roy Emerson.
Most Australian men’s singles titles (all-time)
| Player | No. of titles |
| Novak Djokovic
Roy Emerson Roger Federer?? |
6
6 6?? |
| Andre Agassi
Jack Crawford Ken Rosewall |
4
4 4 |
Active players in bold
- At 36 years 173 days, Federer is bidding to become the 3rd man in the Open Era to win 4 or more Grand Slam titles after turning 30, after Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall, who both won 4 major titles after their 30th birthdays. (see table overleaf)
Players aged 30+ to win at least 2 men’s singles Grand Slam titles (Open Era)
| Player | Grand Slam titles won aged 30+ |
| Rod Laver | 4 (1969 Australian Open, 1969 Roland Garros, 1969 Wimbledon, 1969 US Open) |
| Roger Federer?? | 4?? (2012 Wimbledon, 2017 Australian Open, 2017 Wimbledon, 2018 Australian Open??) |
| Ken Rosewall | 4 (1968 Roland Garros, 1970 US Open, 1971 Australian Open, 1972 Australian Open) |
| Andre Agassi | 2 (2001 Australian Open, 2003 Australian Open) |
| Jimmy Connors | 2 (1982 US Open, 1983 US Open) |
| Stan Wawrinka | 2 (2015 Roland Garros, 2016 US Open) |
| Rafael Nadal | 2 (2017 Roland Garros, 2017 US Open) |
- Federer is also bidding to win a 3rd Grand Slam title after turning 35. Rosewall is the only other man to have won major titles after his 35th birthday in the Open Era. By reaching the final at 2017 Wimbledon, Federer became the 2nd man in the Open Era, after Rosewall, to have reached multiple Grand Slam finals after turning 35.
Players aged 35+ in Grand Slam men’s singles finals (Open Era)
| Age | Player | Grand Slam | Result in final |
| 39 years 310 days | Ken Rosewall | 1974 US Open | l. Jimmy Connors 61 60 61 |
| 39 years 246 days | Ken Rosewall | 1974 Wimbledon | l. Jimmy Connors 61 61 64 |
| 37 years 62 days | Ken Rosewall | 1972 Australian Open | d. Mal Anderson 76 63 75 |
| 36 years 306 days | Mal Anderson | 1972 Australian Open | l. Ken Rosewall 76 63 75 |
| 36 years 173 days | Roger Federer | 2018 Australian Open | v Marin Cilic |
| 36 years 73 days | Ken Rosewall | 1971 Australian Open | d. Arthur Ashe 61 75 63 |
| 35 years 342 days | Roger Federer | 2017 Wimbledon | d. Marin Cilic 63 61 64 |
| 35 years 315 days | Ken Rosewall | 1970 US Open | d. Tony Roche 26 64 76 63 |
| 35 years 244 days | Ken Rosewall | 1970 Wimbledon | l. John Newcombe 57 63 62 36 61 |
| 35 years 174 days | Roger Federer | 2017 Australian Open | d. Rafael Nadal 64 36 61 36 63 |
| 35 years 135 days | Andre Agassi | 2005 US Open | l. Roger Federer 63 26 76(1) 61 |
- If Federer wins today’s final in straight sets, he will equal Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal at the top of list for most Grand Slam titles won without dropping a set. He would also be the first man to achieve the feat at the Australian Open on multiple occasions. It would be the 11th time in the Open Era a player has achieved the feat at a Grand Slam.
Grand Slam titles won without dropping a set (Open Era)
| Player | Titles | Years |
| Bjorn Borg | 3 | 1976 Wimbledon; 1978, 1980 Roland Garros |
| Roger Federer | 3?? | 2007 Australian Open, 2018 Australian Open??; 2017 Wimbledon |
| Rafael Nadal | 3 | 2008, 2010, 2017 Roland Garros |
| Ilie Nastase | 1 | 1973 Roland Garros |
| Ken Rosewall | 1 | 1971 Australian Open |
- The Australian Open is Federer’s most successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won and his joint-2nd most successful Grand Slam in terms of titles won. Wimbledon is his most successful Grand Slam in terms of titles won and finals reached.
| Grand Slam | Titles won | Win-loss record | Finals reached |
| Australian Open | 6?? | 93-13 | 7 |
| Roland Garros | 1 | 65-16 | 5 |
| Wimbledon | 8 | 91-11 | 11 |
| US Open | 5 | 82-12 | 7 |
- Just one of Federer’s 10 Grand Slam final defeats have come at the Australian Open. He has a 5-1 win-loss record in Australian Open finals and a 19-10 record in Grand Slam finals. (see table overleaf)
Federer in Grand Slam finals
| Event | Result |
| 2003 Wimbledon | d. Mark Philippoussis 76(5) 62 76(3) |
| 2004 Australian Open | d. Marat Safin 76(3) 64 62 |
| 2004 Wimbledon | d. Andy Roddick 46 75 76(3) 64 |
| 2004 US Open | d. Lleyton Hewitt 60 76(3) 60 |
| 2005 Wimbledon | d. Andy Roddick 62 76(2) 64 |
| 2005 US Open | d. Andre Agassi 63 26 76(1) 61 |
| 2006 Australian Open | d. Marcos Baghdatis 57 75 60 62 |
| 2006 Roland Garros | l. Rafael Nadal 16 61 64 76(4) |
| 2006 Wimbledon | d. Rafael Nadal 60 76(5) 67(2) 63 |
| 2006 US Open | d. Andy Roddick 62 46 75 61 |
| 2007 Australian Open | d. Fernando Gonzalez 76(2) 64 64 |
| 2007 Roland Garros | l. Rafael Nadal 63 46 63 64 |
| 2007 Wimbledon | d. Rafael Nadal 76(7) 46 76(3) 26 62 |
| 2007 US Open | d. Novak Djokovic 76(4) 76(2) 64 |
| 2008 Roland Garros | l. Rafael Nadal 61 63 60 |
| 2008 Wimbledon | l. Rafael Nadal 64 64 67(5) 67(8) 97 |
| 2008 US Open | d. Andy Murray 62 75 62 |
| 2009 Australian Open | l. Rafael Nadal 75 36 76(3) 36 62 |
| 2009 Roland Garros | d. Robin Soderling 61 76(1) 64 |
| 2009 Wimbledon | d. Andy Roddick 57 76(6) 76(5) 36 16-14 |
| 2009 US Open | l. Juan Martin del Potro 36 76(5) 46 76(4) 62 |
| 2010 Australian Open | d. Andy Murray 63 64 76(11) |
| 2011 Roland Garros | l. Rafael Nadal 75 76(3) 57 61 |
| 2012 Wimbledon | d. Andy Murray 46 75 63 64 |
| 2014 Wimbledon | l. Novak Djokovic 67(7) 64 76(4) 57 64 |
| 2015 Wimbledon | l. Novak Djokovic 76(1) 67(10) 64 63 |
| 2015 US Open | l. Novak Djokovic 64 57 64 64 |
| 2017 Australian Open | d. Rafael Nadal 64 36 61 36 63 |
| 2017 Wimbledon | d. Marin Cilic 63 61 64 |
| 2018 Australian Open | v Marin Cilic |
- By reaching his 7th Australian Open final, Federer has taken sole ownership of the record for most Australian Open finals reached in history, ahead of Djokovic.
- By reaching his 30th Grand Slam final, Federer has extended his record for most Grand Slam final appearances in history, ahead of Nadal (23 Grand Slam finals) and Djokovic (21).
- By reaching the final here aged 36 years 173 days, Federer is the oldest man to reach the Australian Open final since Rosewall (37 years 62 days) and Mal Anderson (36 years 306 days) both reached the final here in 1972. He is the 3rd-oldest Australian Open finalist in the Open Era.
- By reaching the final here aged 36 years 173 days, Federer is also the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final since Rosewall (39 years 310 days) at the 1974 US Open. He is the 5th-oldest Grand Slam finalist in the Open Era.
- Federer is contesting his 107th Australian Open match today, extending his record for most matches played at the Australian Open in the Open Era. Jimmy Connors is the only other man to have played 100 matches at one Grand Slam event in the Open Era – at both Wimbledon (102) and the US Open (115). Federer has played 102 matches at Wimbledon, 94 matches at the US Open and 81 at Roland Garros.
- Last year here, Federer won his 5th Australian Open title and 18th Grand Slam title overall by defeating Nadal in 5 sets, becoming only the 3rd man in history to win 5 titles here after Djokovic and Emerson. At 17, he was the lowest-ranked man to win the Australian Open since No. 18 Thomas Johansson won the title here in 2002. It was also the first time he had contested 3 five-set matches in the same Grand Slam event.
- Federer is contesting his 72nd Grand Slam event at the 2018 Australian Open, extending his record for most Grand Slam appearances. (See Preview page 6)
- Federer warmed up for the Australian Open at the 2018 Hopman Cup, winning all 4 of his singles matches – against Yuichi Sugita 64 63, Karen Khachanov 63 76(8), Jack Sock 76(5) 75 and Alexander Zverev 67(4) 60 62 – as Switzerland won the title.
- In Grand Slam play in 2017, Federer won his 18th and 19th Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon (d. today’s opponent). He won Wimbledon for the 8th time, surpassing William Renshaw and Pete Sampras to claim sole ownership of the record for most men’s singles titles at Wimbledon. He also reached the quarterfinals at the US Open (l. Juan Martin del Potro), but withdrew from Roland Garros to prepare for the grass court season.
- Federer won the most Tour-level titles in 2017. In addition to his 2 Grand Slam victories, he won the titles at Indian Wells-1000 (d. Stan Wawrinka), Miami-1000 (d. Nadal), Halle (d. Alexander Zverev), Shanghai-1000 (d. Nadal) and Basel (d. Del Potro).
- Federer is coached by 2006 Australian Open quarterfinalist Ivan Ljubicic, and Severin Luthi.
- CILIC is bidding to become the first Croatian player – man or woman – to win the Australian Open title.
- Cilic is bidding to become the first Croatian player – man or woman – to win multiple Grand Slam titles. He won his only major title to date at the 2014 US Open, defeating Kei Nishikori in the final. Goran Ivanisevic and Iva Majoli are the only other Croatian players to have won a Grand Slam title.
Croatian players to win Grand Slam titles
| Player | Grand Slam titles won |
| Marin Cilic | 2?? (2014 US Open, 2018 Australian Open??) |
| Goran Ivanisevic | 1 (2001 Wimbledon) |
| Iva Majoli | 1 (1997 Roland Garros) |
- If Cilic wins the title here on his 10th Australian Open appearance, he will go top of the list for the most attempts before winning the Australian Open title.
Most attempts before winning the Australian Open (Open Era)
| Player | No. of attempts | Year won |
| Marin Cilic?? | 10?? | 2018?? |
| Petr Korda
Stan Wawrinka |
9
9 |
1998
2014 |
| Thomas Johansson | 8 | 2002 |
| Ivan Lendl
Marat Safin |
7
7 |
1989
2005 |
| Boris Becker | 6 | 1991 |
- If Cilic wins his 2nd Grand Slam title on his 12th Grand Slam appearance since winning his first major title at the 2014 US Open, he will go into joint-2nd place on the list for the most attempts before winning a 2nd Grand Slam title in the Open Era.
Most attempts before winning 2nd Grand Slam title (Open Era)
| Player | 1st Grand Slam title | 2nd Grand Slam title | Attempts before winning 2nd Grand Slam title |
| Marat Safin | 2000 US Open | 2005 Australian Open | 14 |
| Marin Cilic | 2014 US Open | 2018 Australian Open?? | 12?? |
| Novak Djokovic | 2008 Australian Open | 2011 Australian Open | 12 |
| Gustavo Kuerten | 1997 Roland Garros | 2000 Roland Garros | 12 |
| Pete Sampras | 1990 US Open | 1993 Wimbledon | 9 |
- Cilic is bidding to become the 27th man in the Open Era to win the Australian Open. 26 of the 54 different Open Era Grand Slam champions have won the title here.
- Cilic is bidding to become the 31st man in the Open Era to win multiple Grand Slam titles. Stan Wawrinka is the most recent man to complete the feat – following up on his 2014 Australian Open title by winning the titles at 2015 Roland Garros and the 2016 US Open.
- By reaching the final here, Cilic has become the first Croatian player – man or woman – to reach the Australian Open final.
- By reaching his 3rd Grand Slam final, Cilic has closed the gap on Ivanisevic on the list for most Grand Slam finals reached by a Croatian player. He became the 2nd Croatian player to reach multiple Grand Slam finals by reaching the final at 2017 Wimbledon.
Croatian players in Grand Slam finals (Open Era)
| Player | Grand Slam finals reached |
| Goran Ivanisevic | 4 (1992, 1994, 1998, 2001 Wimbledon) |
| Marin Cilic | 3 (2014 US Open, 2017 Wimbledon, 2018 Australian Open) |
| Zeljko Franulovic* | 1 (1970 Roland Garros) |
| Iva Majoli | 1 (1997 Roland Garros) |
| Niki Pilic* | 1 (1973 Roland Garros) |
* Franulovic and Pilic are both Croatian-born but represented Yugoslavia throughout their careers
- By reaching his first Australian Open final on his 10th appearance here, Cilic has equalled Kim Warwick’s record for most attempts before reaching the final here in the Open Era.
- By defeating No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the round of 16 here, Cilic recorded his 100th Grand Slam match-win. The Australian Open is Cilic’s 3rd-most successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won.
| Grand Slam | Titles won | Win-loss record | Finals reached |
| Australian Open | 1?? | 26-9 | 1 |
| Roland Garros | 0 | 20-11 | 0 |
| Wimbledon | 0 | 27-10 | 1 |
| US Open | 1 | 29-8 | 1 |
- By defeating Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, Cilic recorded his 2nd victory against a world No. 1. His only previous victory against a world No. 1 came against Djokovic in the quarterfinals at 2016 Paris-1000. The highest-ranked player he had previously defeated at a Grand Slam was No. 2 Murray in the round of 16 at the 2009 US Open. He has a 5-19 win-loss record against Top 2 players overall.
- By defeating Nadal in the last 8, Cilic also ended a 6-match losing streak against Top 5 opposition at Tour-level. He had not defeated a Top 5 player since defeating No. 5 Nishikori in the round-robin stage at the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals.
- Last year here Cilic reached the 2nd round (d. Jerzy Janowicz, l. Daniel Evans). This is his 41st Grand Slam appearance overall.
- Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2017, Cilic reached his 2nd Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, falling to today’s opponent in straight sets. He also reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Wawrinka), but fell in the 3rd round at the US Open (l. Diego Schwartzman).
- Also in 2017 Cilic won his 17th Tour-level title at Istanbul (d. Milos Raonic) to maintain his record of having won at least one Tour-level title every year since 2008. He reached the final at Queen’s (l. Feliciano Lopez) and also reached the semifinals at 4 hard court events – at Acapulco (l. Nadal), Tokyo, (l. Adrian Mannarino), Shanghai-1000 (l. Nadal) and Basel (l. Juan Martin del Potro) – and on grass at ’s-Hertogenbosch (l. Mannarino).
- Cilic warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the semifinals at Pune, where he fell to eventual champion Gilles Simon. He also played a match at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event, losing to Matthew Ebden in 3 sets.
- Cilic has a 7-2 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open – he won 3 five-set matches during his run to the semifinals here in 2010. He has a 27-12 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.
- Cilic reached the quarterfinals of the boys’ singles at the 2005 Australian Open (l. Donald Young). He finished the year at 2 in the ITF Junior Rankings behind Young after winning Junior Roland Garros (d. Antal van der Duim) and reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
- Cilic has played Davis Cup for Croatia since 2006. He won all 3 rubbers he contested in Croatia’s World Group play-off win against Colombia in September 2017. By winning his 2nd singles rubber he claimed the record for most Davis Cup singles match-wins by a Croatian player, overtaking Ivan Ljubicic. Croatia plays Canada in the World Group first round in Osijek on 2-4 February.
- Cilic is coached by Ivan Cinkus. He split with Jonas Bjorkman at the end of the 2017 season.
***Statistics provided by the ITF and Grand Slam Media.
