MELBOURNE, January 25, 2018

Marin Cilic is the first finalist in the men’s draw of the 2018 Australian Open. The No. 6 seed from Croatia edged past Briton Kyle Edmund 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 in Thursday’s night session on Rod Laver Arena.

Cilic sent down 11 aces, winning 90 per cent of his first service points to advance in two hours and 18 minutes.

“I think in the second set I was a bit up and down with my game and not getting enough returns back,” Cilic told during his on-court interview. “He started to serve quite good. I stayed mentally very focused and tried to play every single point. It was crucial in the tie-break to keep that pressure. I noticed in the third game in the third set, [that] he let a couple of balls go. I was seeing that his movement was restricted, so I was trying to move the ball around.”

Cilic becomes the only second player outside the ‘Big 4’ of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal to reach the final here since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finished runner-up in 2008. In that time, Stan Wawrinka, who won the title in 2014 on his only Australian Open final appearance to date, is the only player outside of the ‘Big 4’ to reach the final here.

Cilic now awaits the winner of the match between Roger Federer and #NextGenATP champion Hyeon Chung of Korea.