French Open 2022: Marin Cilic wins 5-set thriller against Rublev, qualifies for Roland Garros semis for first time

 

Veteran Tennis player Marin Cilic won a five-set thriller quarterfinal against Russia’s Andrey Rublev at Phillipe-Chartier court, Paris on Wednesday. Cilic went past Rublev by 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10-2) to book his Roland Garros semifinal berth for the first time in his long career.

The Croatian lost the first set but bounced back to win the next two. Rublev then took the fourth set by 6-3 to take the contest into the deciding and final set. Cilic had a match point on Rublev’s serve at 5-4, 40-30, but he was not able to convert it.

Both players served big but Cilic dominated the tie-breaker from the get-go. Cilic was able to get a mini-break early and just continued with the momentum he achieved.

The 33-year-old heaped praise on Andrey Rublev for playing an incredible match.

“It comes from being me,” said Cilic when asked about his aggressive approach to the tie-break in his on-court interview. “I played that kind of tennis the whole match, and especially the fifth set was an incredible battle. Andrey played incredibly well, and it was an incredible fair-play performance on the court.

“A lot of heart, and one had to go down. Today was my day, but Andrey also played an incredible match.”

“Andrey plays a difficult game,” said Cilic. “Serves big, hits big. You don’t have many chances and you have to keep up with your level and I did that. Unfortunately, I lost that fourth set. I felt I was close to get the break maybe, but Andrey played really well and when you play this long it’s always going to be a little bit up and down during the match.”

Meanwhile, Cilic won a total of 175 points whereas Rublev won 170 as the contest was neck to neck. In fact, Cilic smashed 33 aces in total and it was a major difference in the end.

On the other hand, this was the fifth loss for Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of a Major.

Cilic will take on Casper Ruud in the semifinal of the French Open on Friday.