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Seeking Grand Slam title No. 20, Australian Open title No. 6 and Impress Everyone in the World No. Infinity, World No. 2 Roger Federer will face Marin Cilic in the final match at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
If you live in the United States, the match will start late Saturday night/early Sunday morning at around 3:30 a.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN. That means you can watch a live stream via WatchESPN if you have a cable log-in, but if you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV (AKA you want to watch in bed on your phone), you can watch the match online, on your phone or on another streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services. They cost a monthly fee but all come with a free trial, so you can watch the rest of the Australian Open at no cost:
DirecTV Now: There are four main channel packages, and ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPN 3 are included in all of them. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial no matter what package you choose, and once signed up, you can watch ESPN’s coverage on your computer via the DirecTV Now website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app
Sling TV: ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPN 3 are all included in the “Sling Orange” base package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and then you can watch ESPN on your computer via the Sling website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app
PlayStation Vue: There are four main channel packages, and ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPN 3 are included in all of them. You can sign up for a free 5-day trial right here, and then you can watch ESPN on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the PlayStation Vue app
Note: You can watch ESPN on your computer via the WatchESPN website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the WatchESPN app. When asked to sign in to your TV provider, you can use your DirecTV Now, Sling TV or PS Vue credentials to sign in.
Preview
This will be the second time in the last three Grand Slams that Federer and Cilic have matched up in the final. They met at last year’s Wimbledon, with Federer rolling to a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 victory to claim his eighth title at the All-England Club. In that one, Federer neutralized Cilic’s big serve, winning 37 percent of the return points and breaking the big Croatian three times.
Federer again knocked off Cilic at last year’s ATP World Tour Finals, running his record against the Croatian to 8-1. And with the way things are going in Melbourne, it would be fairly surprising if Fed-Ex didn’t continue his winning ways.
While Federer has still yet to drop a set so far this tournament, Cilic has had some battles. It took four sets to get past Vasek Popisil in the first round. Ryan Harrison took him to a couple of tiebreakers in the third round. His matches against Pablo Carreno Busta and a not-100-percent-healthy Rafael Nadal went four and five sets, respectively. It’s hardly been simple for Cilic, who will be playing in his first Australian Open final and is seeking his second Grand Slam title (he won the 2014 US Open).
Still, when Cilic is on his game, he has the talent to beat anyone in the world.
“I like (Cilic’s) attitude,” Federer said. “He’s very professional. He’s always very much the same regardless of whether he wins or loses. I like that attitude.
“He’s a winner. You can see it in the way he behaves on the court. He’s there to win and not just to be there. Sometimes you see other players you feel like they’re happy to have made the quarters so far. He strives for more. I like those attitudes.”
The 2018 Australian Open has been a mostly unpredictable ride, but in the end, it’s two players who undoubtedly belong there. Despite the lopsided head-to-head history, this should be an entertaining battle.