MELBOURNE, Australia — Marin Cilic has advanced to his first Australian Open final, beating Kyle Edmund of Britain 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

The sixth-seeded Croatian becomes just the second man outside the so-called Big Four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to reach the final at Melbourne Park in the last 10 years. Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 champion, is the other.

Cilic reached his third career Grand Slam final after the 2014 U.S. Open, which he won, and 2017 Wimbledon, which he lost to Federer.

Cilic will also rise to a career-high ranking of No. 3 by making the final.

He’ll face the winner of the second semifinal on Friday between Federer and Hyeon Chung of South Korea.

Advancing to the women’s finals was No. 1-ranked Simona Halep who clinched an engrossing 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 semifinal win over 2016 champion Angelique Kerber.

Romania’s Simona Halep savors the moment after defeating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in their semifinal match at the Australian Open.up

Halep will face No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki in the final on Saturday, with one of them guaranteed to win a first Grand Slam title. The winner will also be No. 1 when the new rankings are released next week. Wozniacki, who beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-6 (2) in 1½ hours in the first semifinal, hasn’t held the top ranking for six years.

For Halep, it’s a first major final beyond the clay courts of Roland Garros. She lost French Open finals to Jelena Ostapenko last year — having led by a set and a break — and to Maria Sharapova in 2014.

For Wozniacki, it’s her first Grand Slam final outside of America. The two-time U.S. Open runner-up also had to save match points to reach her first Australian Open final. She rallied from 5-1 down in the third set of her second-round win and said she’s been “playing with the house money” ever since.

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