The feeling has been confirmed: Marin Cilic is currently on cloud nine. During this quarter-final at Roland-Garros against Andrey Rublev, the 23rd player in the world won after an intense fight in five sets and 4:10 of play (5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3 -6, 7-6).
Qualified for the first time in his career in the semi-final at Porte d’Auteuil after a super authoritarian tie-break, Cilic becomes the fifth tennis player of the Open era still active to have played at least one semi-final. of every Grand Slam tournament. In the next round, he will face the survivor of the Nordic duel between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune. And beware, his presence in the last four could well give him other ideas…
Roland-Garros
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No, Marin Cilic has not said his last word in these France 2022 internationals. Considered an outsider in his round of 16 against Medvedev, he was also an outsider to face Rublev. But in the end, the winner of the 2014 US Open consecutively offered two Russians to his list and won the right to continue his journey in the quest for a new Grand Slam tournament. After all, he is only 33 years old, 34 this year, and above all has the experience necessary to manage moments of high tension.
88 winning moves for Cilic!
This has been seen in practice. The Muscovite regularly faltered when his opponent defended break points. But above all, Rublev showed a rather disturbing irregularity for a player ranked 7th in the ATP rankings. First solid on the first set by breaking at 5-5 to follow up on a shutout behind and win the first set (7-5), Rublev had tantrums from the second set. Opposite, Cilic watched everything and realized that managing weak times would be key.
More serene and above all very effective in the first ball (32 aces in total in the game), Cilic pocketed the second set thanks to an entry break (6-3), then the third thanks to a new break at 3-3 without ever flinching on his face-off despite the jolts (6-4). In this duel favorable to the servers, Rublev seemed for a long time a tone below, but it was in the middle of the fourth set that the Russian woke up. In pride, the winner of the Belgrade tournament (in the final against Novak Djokovic) broke at 4-3 to equalize in two sets everywhere (6-3).
From then on, the fifth round would smile on the most obstinate, as the saying goes at Roland-Garros. And in this little game, Cilic used his experience to speak for himself by hitting many winning shots. He also hit a total of 88 in more than 4 hours of play! A huge number for a match on clay. His 71 unforced errors therefore weighed less.
Opposite, Rublev, forced to save match point on his serve at 6-5 against him, was probably too passive. This was confirmed in the super tie-break where Cilic let go while he trembled. After Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, Cilic is the fifth active tennis player to play a Grand Slam semi-final at least once in his career. This is also what building your legend is.
Marin Cilic
Credit: Getty Images
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