Marin Cilic was number three in the world in 2018. He had won the US Open four years before and in 2017 he was a finalist at Wimbledon. He reached the podium in the ranking that season after being runner-up in Australia (Federer beat him). But in July he suffered an adductor injury and he never came back. He slipped down to 49th place and last year reared his head with titles in Stuttgart and St. Petersburg. This Wednesday confirmed his return to the elite by qualifying for the semifinals for the Roland Garros semifinals, with a victory in five sets, the last one resolved in the super tiebreaker (5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6 (2) in 4h10) against Andrey Rublev. On Friday he will seek a place in the title match against Denmark’s Holger Rune or Norway’s Casper Ruud, who met last night.
At 36 years old, Cilic greens laurels with success in a tournament in which he had never managed to get this far. It is the sixth time he has reached the penultimate round in a Grand Slam, he had achieved it in the other three majors, the last time at the Australian Open in 2018. And he becomes the first Croatian to achieve it in all four. “Today was my day,” said Marin, who hit 88 winners, 33 of them aces. Little mattered to him committing 71 unforced errors. Thus he dominated the 24-year-old Russian, who saved a match point before the final tie-break. He continues to curse him in the Slams rooms. His balance is 0-5 and 2-15 in sets. It is your Achilles heel. That, despite the fact that since 2020 he is the leader in ATP circuit victories (122).
Chila (so he is nicknamed), winner of 20 titles, he started playing in his backyard and is a philanthropist who helps the people of his country. Friendly and kind, he is one step away from returning to a grand final.
