Australian Open 2018: Roger Federer breaks five records after beating Marin Cilic in final
As the whole of the tennis fraternity waited with baited breath to witness history in making, a certain Swiss legend strolled over to the ballboy at the Rod Laver Arena and wiped his face with a towel and quickly returned to the baseline.
A faulty serve was followed by one that forced Croat Marin Cilic to only net the return, which sent his opponent, Roger Federer, into history books as the rest of the world stood in awe of his achievement.
Federer, at the age of 36 had won his sixth Australian Open title and 20th Grand Slam overall, the first ever tennis player to achieve that feat, beating the legendary Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slams.
Crunching the numbers
As soon as the return hit the net, Federer held his arms aloft but paused for a moment as Cilic opted to review the decision on the 11th-hour to delay the Swiss maestro's achievement. However, the ball was called "in" on review and the Rod Laver Arena transformed into a cauldron of noise in appreciation of the World No.2's achievement.
Not only did Federer win the hearts of fans and pundits alike with his hard-fought 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win, but he also broke a plethora of records after clinching the game.
Here, we take a look at some of the records that Federer broke after this historic win.
1) This is Federer's 6th Australian Open title, equalling the record for most number of Australian Open wins with Novak Djokovic (modern era) and Roy Emerson (amateur era).
2) The Australian Open win is Federer's 20th Grand Slam title, the most for any tennis player ever. Pete Sampras comes in second on this list with 14 Grand Slam titles.
3) The Australian Open is the 200th Grand Slam since the first one in 1968. Out of the 200, Federer has won 20, which boils down to the fact that he has won 10% of all the Grand Slams since 1968.
4) With the win, Federer equalled Rod Laver's record of 4 Grand Slam titles after turning 30.
5) In the 21st century, Roger Federer has won 27% of all the Grand Slams.
In the post-match interview, a visibly emotional Roger Federer was quipped saying, "I'm not crying, you're crying. You guys make me nervous. You guys make me practice. You guys fill the stadiums. Thank you!"
Going by numbers, it would be safe to say that Roger Federer is one of the best ever players to have graced the game...if not the best.