Marin Cilic was superb on serve and played with great focus on Thursday night to become the first Croatian to reach the Australian Open final, which represents his third Grand Slam championship title match (also 2014 US Open, 2017 Wimbledon). The 29-year-old, competing in a semi-final at Melbourne Park for the second time (also 2010), used his big-match experience at key moments to defeat Kyle Edmund of Great Britain 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-2 in two hours and 18 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. "I think in the second set I was a bit up and down with my game and not getting enough returns back," Cilic told Jim Courier, in an on-court interview. "He started to serve quite good. I stayed...
Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic extended their winning streak in 2018 and are riding on the crest of a wave in Melbourne. The seventh-seeded team from Austria and Croatia used their collective experience on Thursday to book a place in the Australian Open final after overcoming Japan’s Ben Mclachlan and Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) in two hours and 26 minutes. Marach and Pavic battled back from a 1/3 deficit in the deciding set tie-break, putting Mclachlan and Struff under pressure to commit four groundstroke errors – two forehand and two backhand – as the seventh seeds won six of the next seven points. Marach, 37, and 24-year-old Pavic are now 13 matches unbeaten this year. Prior to...
Kyle Edmund and his coach, Fredrik Rosengren, explain how everything in the young Brit's game has come together on his stunning run through to the Australian Open semi-final.
Kyle Edmund’s first serve has caught fire Down Under. The 23-year-old Brit served 315 aces during 60 matches in 2017 to help power himself to a year-end ATP Ranking of No. 50. Solid numbers, but nothing like what he has done during his run to the semi-finals of the 2018 Australian Open. Edmund has hit 78 aces through five matches in Melbourne – which is remarkably already 25 per cent of his season total from last year. Five of Edmund’s aces have come behind second serves. [ALSO LIKE] Edmund is currently ranked 32nd on the Infosys ATP Stats Serve LEADERBOARD, which reflects good serving, but clearly shows he is not yet one of the serving greats on the ATP World...
If you like your tennis powerful, you will want to watch Thursday's Australian Open semi-final between Marin Cilic and Kyle Edmund. The Croatian and Brit, without an ounce of hyperbole, have two of the strongest forehands on the ATP World Tour, and the booming shot has helped both of them achieve career milestones this fortnight Down Under. Edmund has used his to make himself comfortable during the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time. Before this fortnight, the unseeded 23-year-old had never won two five-set matches at the same tournament or reached past the fourth round of a Grand Slam (2016 US Open). View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the semi-final match-ups at the Australian Open & vote...
