Federer 30 cum laude. The thirtieth final played in a Grand Slam tournament, another of his unthinkable and incomparable records, gives the Swiss tennis player his twentieth triumph, his sixth at the Australian Open. The round figure, the record of records, the second star, if we want to compare his 20 triumphs to hypothetical championships in the Italian football championship. Twenty Grand Slams over a not only brilliant but also infinite career: the first was the 2003 Wimbledon, now almost 15 years ago, when the various Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, his greatest opponents of recent years, exploded after him but are seriously risking not surviving him.
The same fate befell Marin Cilic today in Melbourne, who had already been the finalist in Federer's 19th Grand Slam, the one at Wimbledon last year. This time the Croatian played it better, always in pursuit but at a certain point he really thought he could win it: after winning the fourth set, inertia seemed entirely on his side. But this did not happen: Federer, who will turn 37 in August, has risen once again from its ashes and brought home the victory, spreading in the decisive set with a peremptory 6-1 built with class and suffering. With this triumph, the Australian Open officially becomes the Swiss champion's second favorite tournament: the Wimbledon garden, with 8 successes, remains untouchable, but now Melbourne surpasses the US Open, won by Federer "only" five times.
"This it is the conclusion of a fairy tale, a dream come true”, commented a Federer particularly moved and disfigured by tears as he had rarely been seen. “I continue to enjoy myself here in Australia, it's a beautiful journey. It is thanks to all of you – he then said to the audience – that I still train, I am tense, I smile, I play ”. And we, mere mortals, thank him.
