Cilic denies that Federer gets special treatment

What's the story?

Former US Open champion Marin Cilic recently discussed his Australian Open final experience with Roger Federer in 2018 which the Croat narrowly lost in 5 gruelling sets. Though the final is largely remembered for being Federer's 20th Grand Slam title, there were questions raised whether the scheduling was changed to favour Federer. Cilic; however, denied this, but still questioned the actions of the tournaments directors.

In case you didn't know

Marin Cilic has had a very successful career; in a time where the Big 3 has made it virtually impossible to win a Grand Slam, the Croat managed to win the US Open in 2014 and reach two other Grand Slam finals which he both lost to Roger Federer.

The heart of the matter

When asked if Federer got preferential treatment in the 2018 Australian Open, Cilic replied, "It is tough to say. Roger is very popular," He added, "Night matches are always something the tournament wants him to play." Before admitting, "I was just not happy at the end of the tournament in Australia because they changed the rules."

The Croat continued, "They were following one way of the rules during the tournament and they had different rules for the finals with closing the roof. They're reusing two conditions to suit up to be able to close the roof which they didn't have."

Cilic concluded, "So, that was the only part that didn't go well by the referee's side. I don't think they were going one way or the other, for me or Roger. I felt that in that part they need to be consistent."

Because Federer is the most popular player on tour, tournament directors often place him in the prime-time slots as from a business aspect that makes sense. Whilst not being Federer's fault, this sometimes proves controversial amongst certain fans and players, nevertheless, when asked himself, Federer denied that he always gets what he wants during tournaments.