MELBOURNE: Roger Federer has captured his 20th Grand Slam singles title, beating Marin Cilic in a tense, back-and-forth Australian Open final 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
It's the sixth Australian Open title in Federer's illustrious career, going along with his eight titles in Wimbledon, five at the US Open and one at the French Open.
Cilic had two chances to break Federer's serve in the first game of the fifth set, but wasted them both with two unforced errors. The Croatian player then double-faulted twice in the second game to drop his own serve, giving Federer the decisive lead in the set.
The crowd at Rod Laver Arena loudly cheered him on as he neared his 20th Grand Slam win, chanting his name between games and applauding Cilic's errors.
At the age of 36 years, 173 days, Federer also becomes the second-oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era after Ken Rosewall, who won the 1972 Australian Open at 37.