June 1, 2022 - Marin Čilić is in the Roland Garros semi-finals!

In a fantastic match, the Croatian tennis player defeated the 7th best player in the world Andrey Rublev 3:2 in sets, and achieved his best result at the Grand Slam tournament in Paris. Čilić won 5:7, 6:3, 6:4, 3:6, 7:6 in sets after more than four hours of play.

In the first set, both tennis players kept their serve until 5:5 until Rublev took the 6:5 lead. In the next game, he finished the set at 7:5 without losing a point.

Marin entered the second set brilliantly, with an early break he took the lead at 3:0, was up 4:1, and then 5:2. At 5:3, he used the fifth set point for 6:3 and 1:1 in sets.

Čilić continued with momentum in the third set. At 2:2 he had two unused break points. But a new opportunity soon followed. At 3:3 he reached a new break and was successful. He kept the advantage until the end of the set and at 6:4 went ahead 2:1 in sets.

In the fourth set, Čilić and Rublev went to 4:3. Rublev then broke at 5:3 and won the serve for 6:3 and 2:2 in sets.

In the dramatic fifth set, there was no chance for a turnaround until 5:4. In the tenth game, Čilić reached the match point, but Rublev won the game for 5:5. In the next game, Rublev had a break, but Čilić managed to win the game for a 6:5 lead. After Rublev won his serve, the match went into the thirteenth game.

As of this year, at 6:6 a tie-break of up to 10 points is played in the deciding set. Čilić was the first to go ahead after a mini break for 4:2, and then with a fantastic game he scored another six points for 10:2 and a spot in the semifinals.

By entering the semifinals, Čilić achieved his greatest success at Roland Garros. He has reached the quarterfinals twice so far (2017, 2018), but lost both times. He was eliminated five years ago by the Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka, and a year later by Argentine player Juan Martin del Potro.

Čilić played the last semifinal at a Grand Slam in 2018, when he reached the final of the Australian Open. Čilić is also the first Croatian tennis player to reach all four Grand Slam semi-finals. 

It was the seventh meeting between 33-year-old Čilić and 24-year-old Rublev and Čilić's third victory.

More soon...

Source: HRT

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March 30, 2021 - It will be Marin Čilić against Andrey Rublev in the Miami Open round of 16, while Croatian doubles team Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić have reached the quarters! 

Marin Čilić advanced to the round of 16 at the ATP Masters tournament in Miami with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Italian Lorenzo Musetti. It took Marin only 76 minutes of play.

Čilićwas dominant against 19-year-old Musetti, who is 94th in the ATP rankings and the youngest player in the company of the ATP's top 100.

Marin won the first set thanks to a tiebreak at 3-2 and went ahead in the second set after 4-4. The Medjugorje native was in a good mood for the game, recording 9 aces and a first-serve percentage of only 51 percent, while he saved both of his opponent's breaks. 

This was the first duel between Čilić and Musetti. 

In the round of 16, Čilić will play against the 8th-best tennis player in the world, Russian Andrei Rublev, who defeated Hungarian Martin Fuscovisco in the round of 32. 

Čilić never recorded particularly good results in Miami and went the furthest in 2013 - to the quarterfinals.

This was Čilić's fifth win in 2021, and for the first time, he has linked three Tour victories since the Australian Open last year. 

Direktno.hr reports that the most successful doubles team in 2021, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić advanced to the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 series tournament in Miami, where they defeated Americans Taylor Fritz and John Isner 6:4, 6:4 in the round of 16 duel. 

This is the seventh tournament for Mektić and Pavić this season, and they have reached at least the quarterfinals for the seventh time. In 25 matches played, they achieved 22 victories, suffered only three defeats, and won three titles (Antalya, Melbourne, Rotterdam), with one lost final (Dubai) to Colombians Cabal and Farah.

Ivan Dodig and Slovak Filip Polašek defeated them in the semifinals of the Australian Open, and the French team Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin defeated them in the quarterfinals of the Doha tournament, which is the only loss for the Croatian Davis Cup team in the quarterfinals of 2021.

To advance to the semifinals, Mektić and Pavić will have to beat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic and Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Ivan Dodig and Filip Polašek will fight for the semifinals against Austrian Oliver Marach and Australian Luke Saville.

Source: HTS

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