Federer overtook Rafael Nadal in the ATP Tour rankings on Friday to become world No 1 for the first time since 2012 when he beat Robin Haase in the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open.
The Swiss legend took the title yesterday when he saw off Grigor Dimitrov in the final yesterday in straight sets. Cilic has lost two Grand Slam finals in the past six months to Federer – Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
And the Croat thinks the 36-year-old deserves to be No 1, because he continues to show that you can improve when you get older.
“It’s an amazing achievement for him,” he said.
“He put himself in the position to be number one again.
“For tennis it’s great. He is an example that you can still improve at the age that he is.”
Meanwhile, Federer’s former coach Paul Annacone paid tribute to his former pupil who now has 97 career tour titles to his name.
He said: “He continues to wrestle Father Time to a standstill. “Roger’s accomplishments are unparalleled but what is more inspirational is the process he has undertaken to pursue his dreams.
“Once those dreams became goals and many of those goals became reality his world changed everywhere except internally as a person.
“His humility, class, grace and sense of what is truly important in life resonate today.”