July 29, 2021 - Čilić and Dodig reached the finals of the Olympic Games in doubles with a victory against the New Zealand pair Daniell and Venus (6-2, 6-2) and thus secured an Olympic tennis medal for Croatia!

The joys in the Tokyo Olympics do not stop coming for Croatia, and especially in the doubles category in tennis, where until yesterday it was known that they had at least secured a bronze medal by having the couple Čilić and Dodig, and recent Wimbledon champions Mektić and Pavić, both in the semi-finals. But today Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig beat their New Zealand rivals (6-2, 6.2) and qualified for the final, now securing a silver medal for Croatia.

Later, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić will play with the Americans Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren, and in the event of the victory of Mektić and Pavić, Croatia would win another medal in Tokyo, and for the first time, we would watch the Croatian final at the Olympic Games, reports Index.hr.

Čilić and Dodig easily celebrated in the semifinals against the New Zealanders. It was uncertain only up to 2: 2 in the first set. After that, the Croatian tennis players made a series of eight games, rushed to 6: 2, 4: 0, and calmly kept the advantage for a huge celebration.

To reach this stage, Čilić and Dodig had to beat the Japanese Daniel and Nishioka (6-2, 6-4) in the first round. In the second round they beat the Americans Ram and Tiafoe (6-3, 7-5), and yesterday they beat the British Murray and Salisbury (4-6, 7-6, 10-7) for the quarterfinals.

Until the Games in Tokyo, Čilić and Dodig played 22 doubles matches and celebrated in 12 of them, and they had the best form in 2016 when they recorded all doubles victories in the Davis Cup, but despite that, Croatia lost the Davis Cup final that year to Argentina.

In the finals, they could expect Mektić and Pavić, the best tennis pair of today, which has 51 victories and only five defeats this year. It should be remembered that Metkić and Pavić arrived in Tokyo as the recent champions of the Wimbledon doubles tournament this month.

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After two tiebreaks against Romanian player Marius Copil, Marin Čilić easily overcame the young Canadian sensation Felix Auger Aliassime and advanced to the quarter-final of the challenging ATP 500 tournament in Washington D.C. - the Washington Open. 

It is only the third time in this otherwise poor season that Marin Čilić has connected two victories in the same tournament. Thus, the Australian Open and Madrid join the Washington Open, where Čilić has been a semi-finalist in his last two appearances long ago (2015 and 2010), reports 24 Sata on August 2, 2019. 

We can only hope this is an indication of better days for the Croatian tennis star, who delighted his fans by wearing a smile across his face for the first time in a long time.

After two tiebreaks against Marius Copil, Čilić had no problem advancing over the young Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime (6-3, 6-4), who has been a sensation in the tennis world this year. Recall, Auger Aliassime advanced to 21st on the ATP ranking, almost reaching Čilić! He is currently the 22nd best in the world, and according to the ranking, the biggest win of Croatia’s second-best tennis player this year. So far, Čilić also defeated Fernando Verdasco in Melbourne, then the 28th best player in the world.

Furthermore, this only Čilić’s second quarterfinal in 2019. Recall, he had to give up his first in Madrid due to food poisoning.

Čilić and Auger Aliassime met for the first time in the round of 16 on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Čilić already broke his opponent in the first game of the match, though he went on to save three break points from the 18-year-old Canadian.

Auger Aliassime was more dangerous in the second set where he won two break points and saved a game point by Čilić.

However, Čilić was calm and consistent, though he achieved a weak 55 percent on his first serve and also racked up nine aces less than against Copil (4-13). 

If better days are indeed ahead for Čilić will be tested already in the quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev, a player he has yet to meet. The Russian topped Frances Tiafoe (6-2, 7-5) in the round of 16. 

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Marin Čilić has reached the finals of Wimbledon!