Croatia’s best singles tennis player finished his stint at Roland Garros in the quarters, while Ivan Dodig defeated Mate Pavić in the mixed doubles final!
June 7, 2018 - Juan Martin del Potro will play in the semifinal of Roland Garros after knocking out Marin Čilić 3:1 in sets (7:6, 5:7, 6:3, 7:5). This was the Argentinian’s 11th win in 13 matches against Čilić.
The continuation of the tie-break of the first set, which was interrupted on Wednesday at 5:5, lasted only two points. Del Potro won both and created an advantage in the match from the beginning, though he missed three breaks in the ninth game and three in the 11th.
In the equalizing second set, Čilić came to the advantage first. At 3:3 he missed the first two breaks in the match, but won the next two games. Unfortunately, when he was serving to win the set, Marin remained without a point. But in the next leg, he again gained the advantage, and after more than two hours, reached 1:1 in sets.
Čilić continued playing excellent tennis at the beginning of the third set when Del Potro crashed. The Croatian tennis player was ahead 2:0 and came up to 15:40. But Del Potro came back, just like in the fifth game when he saved Čilić’s chance to break. The game then completely turned around, and Del Potro came back to win a string of five gems to win the third set.
A series of mistakes by Čilić in the fourth set ultimately gave Del Potro the win for a place in the semis.
Ivan Dodig and Taiwanese tennis player Latisha Chan won the mixed doubles final at Roland Garros in their first joint appearance. They defeated Australian Open winners Mate Pavić and Gabriela Dabrowski 6:1, 6:7 (5) and 10:8.
This is another Grand Slam title for Dodig after he won Roland Garros in 2015 with men's pairs partner Marcelo Melo.
