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.

The final was played under the Rod Laver Arena roof as the tournament’s extreme heat policy was invoked.

Despite starting at 19:30 local time in Melbourne, the conditions were if anything more testing than 24 hours earlier, when Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep played to the point of exhaustion in the women’s final.

With the roof closed and air-conditioning taking the edge off the temperature, Federer and Cilic played out a gripping contest over three hours and two minutes.

After a poor start, Cilic looked to have the momentum when he won five games in a row to force a fifth set, but Federer clung on to his serve at the start of the decider and got the key break in the following game.

The Swiss ties the record for men’s Australian Open titles at six with Novak Djokovic and Roy Emerson, and moves four clear of Rafael Nadal in the all-time list for male Grand Slam champions on 20.

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Source: BBC

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Edmund was playing in the last eight of a major for the first time but showed few nerves in a 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 win.

The world number 49 becomes only the sixth British man to reach the last four at a Grand Slam in the Open era.

He will play top seed Rafael Nadal or sixth seed Marin Cilic on Thursday for a place in the final.

Andy Murray, Greg Rusedski, John Lloyd, Roger Taylor and Tim Henman – who was watching from the front row on Rod Laver Arena – are the only other British men to have reached Grand Slam singles semi-finals since tennis turned professional in 1968.

Edmund has long looked the most likely to join that list, but few would have predicted it would happen at this year’s Australian Open.

Ranked 49th and without an ATP final to his name, let alone a title, logic suggested there were several more steps to make before becoming a major contender.

However, the Yorkshireman’s huge forehand is already one of the biggest shots in the game, and marked an improvement on serve and return in the off-season appear to have fast-tracked him.

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Source: BBC

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The 36-year-old American last week played her first match since giving birth in September.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner and the reigning Australian Open champion, said: “Although I am super close, I’m not where I want to be.”

On Thursday, Britain’s Andy Murray pulled out of the tournament, which starts on 15 January.

Williams was eight weeks pregnant with daughter Olympia when she won her seventh Australian Open title in 2017.

The world number 22 said: “My coach and team always said ‘only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way’.

“I can compete – but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time.

“The memory of last year’s Open is one that I will carry with me, and Olympia and I look forward to coming back again.”

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said: “I’ve been in constant contact with Serena and her team and know this is why she has pushed it and pushed it until the 11th hour to make her final decision.

“Serena transcends the sport in the way she approaches all aspects of her life. It was never going to be good enough for her to just compete.”

Williams lost an exhibition contest against Jelena Ostapenko in Abu Dhabi on 30 December 2017, in her first match since giving birth in September.

It is the first time since 2011 that Williams has missed the tournament.

On Thursday, men’s world number four Kei Nishikori withdrew because of a wrist injury.

There are also doubts over the fitness of Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in 2014.

Serb Novak Djokovic, a six-time Australian Open champion, may also miss out with an elbow injury.

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Source: BBC

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The 36-year-old won this year’s event in Melbourne while in the early weeks of pregnancy and gave birth to a daughter in September.

Tiley told the Herald Sun the 23-time Grand Slam winner is “very likely” to return to tennis in Melbourne.

“She’s got her visa, she’s entered, she’s practising,” he said. “There’s no question she’ll be ready in our view.”

Williams, who has won the Australian Open seven times, has posted on social media that she has returned to training.

Australia’s Margaret Court, with 24, is the only player still ahead of Serena in terms of Grand Slam singles titles.

“She wants to break a record that is Margaret Court’s,” added Tiley. “It would be a pretty significant accomplishment for her to be able to do that.”

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Source: BBC

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