Roger Federer Wins Sixth Australian Open – 20th Grand Slam Title

Roger Federer on Sunday won his sixth Australian Open and record-extending 20th Grand Slam singles title with a five-set win over Marin Cilic – the second straight year he’d successfully gone the distance in the title match in Melbourne.

The Swiss lost five games in a row as he dropped the fourth set but recovered to win 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 3-6 6-1.

Federer, 36, becomes only the fourth player after Margaret Court, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf to win 20 or more major singles titles.

Federer broke down in tears — not for the first time — during the trophy ceremony in Rod Laver Arena as Laver himself was taking pictures with his phone from the front row.

“The fairy tale continues, for us, for me,” Federer said, looking toward his team and his family in the players box and fighting to keep his composure. “After the great year I had last year, it’s incredible.”

Federer, who is 155 ranking points behind Rafael Nadal, will return to world No1 on March 5, if Nadal fails to make it to the Acapulco semi-finals.