October 19, 2019 - Marin Cilic defeated Jeremy Chardy in the quarters of the Kremlin Cup on Friday to book his first semi-final in 14 months! 

HRT reports that Croatian tennis player Marin Cilic advanced to the semi-final of the ATP tournament in Moscow after defeating Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2) after two hours and 21 minutes of play.

It will be Cilic's first appearance in the semi-final of a tournament in 2019 and his first in 14 months, or since Cincinnati in August last year.

However, this was no easy win for Cilic, and the match was full of twists and turns. In the first set, Chardy led 4-3 with a break only to have Cilic win the next three games, two of which were on Chardy’s serve.

To win the second set, it was enough for Chardy to break in the third game, which took the match to the decisive third set. Cilic led 3-0 only for Chardy to equalize at 3-3. Chardy had the chance to break Cilic to lead 4-3, which he didn't use. Then, with a 4-3 advantage, Cilic had four opportunities to take his opponents serve; however, the winner would be decided in a tie break. 

Cilic was convincing with his first strike in the decisive game and managed to score two points on Chardy's serve for the win. This was Cilic’s fourth victory in his sixth match against Chardy. With this success, Cilic also skips Borna Coric (currently ranked 22nd on the ATP list) and will again have the status of Croatia's best tennis player on Monday.

In the semi-final, Cilic will play against Russian Andrey Rublev, who beat Serbian Nikola Milojevic 6-2, 6-3. Cilic and Rublev have played twice so far, and each player has one win. Cilic celebrated back in 2015, while Rublev celebrated in March of this year in Miami.

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October 18, 2019 - Marin Cilic booked a spot in the quarterfinal of the ATP Tournament in Moscow after defeating fellow countryman Ivo Karlovic 6:1, 7:6 in the Croatian round of 16. It was their seventh encounter and the fourth victory for Cilic.

HRT writes that Karlovic and Cilic last played two years ago in the semifinal of the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, when Karlovic, who is nine years Cilic’s senior, celebrated in three sets.

This time, however, Marin Cilic was better and won after an hour and 24 minutes of play.

Cilic entered the match like a hurricane, and with two breaks, he led 5:0. Karlovic struggled to reduce the score to 5:1, and in the next game, Cilic safely served for a 1:0 lead in sets after 28 minutes of play.

In the first set, Karlovic had major problems with his strongest weapon, his serve. He achieved only one ace service with a modest first-serve percentage of 39 percent.

In the second set, we saw a much closer fight. 

Cilic had two break points in the first game, but the Croatian veteran saved both. Karlovic’s big opportunity came in the eighth game, when he had two consecutive and three total break opportunities, but he did not use any.

The set was eventually decided in the thirteenth game. Cilic took the lead with 4:2, Karlovic tied it at 5:5, but Marin then won two games in a row for the victory. With this victory, Cilic also booked his 500th match win.

5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ ?

Congratulations, @cilic_marin! ? pic.twitter.com/6GrchDszWz

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 17, 2019

Recall, Karlovic defeated Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in the first round 6:4, 6:7 (5), 7:6 (6), while Cilic, as the third-seed in the Kremlin Cup, was free. Cilic now awaits Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the quarterfinal, who beat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6:3, 6:4 in the 2nd round match.

Cilic and Chardy have played five times so far, with Cilic leading 3:2 in wins. They last played two years ago in Monte Carlo, where Cilic celebrated 6:3, 6:0.

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October 16, 2019 - A Croatian round of 16 awaits at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, as Ivo Karlovic and Marin Cilic are set to meet on Thursday.

Gol.hr writes that Croatian tennis player Ivo Karlovic saved the match point in a decisive tie-break on Tuesday - and after battling for two hours and 11 minutes in the first round of the Kremlin Cup, he defeated Slovenian Aljaž Bedene 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6). In the round of 16, Karlovic awaits an all Croatian duel, with Marin Cilic on the other side of the net. 

It was the fifth encounter between the 40-year-old Karlovic and 30-year-old Slovenian, in which the Croatian veteran reached his first victory.

In the first set, Karlovic needed a break to take the 3-2 lead to win. In the second set, he missed a chance to break in the first game and saved Bedene's only break point in the eighth game, forcing the game to a tie-break. Bedene managed to score one point on Karlovic's serve, which was enough for him to win the set.

Karlovic had the only chance to break in the third set with a 4-3 lead, but Bedene came back. The Slovenian led by 5-2 in the decisive tie-break, but Karlovic returned to 5-5 and led 6-5 to save the match point. Karlovic also scored the next two points, reaching his 11th win of the season (11-14).

Karlovic scored 35 aces to win, achieving a first-serve percentage of 85 percent and 58 percent on the second serve. Bedene scored three more points (107-104) overall, but that wasn't enough for the victory. 

In the fight for the quarterfinal, Karlovic will play against Marin Cilic who, as the third-seed of the Kremlin Cup, was free in the first round. In their six encounters so far, Karlovic and Cilic have each won three times. Karlovic and Cilic last played two years ago in the semifinal of the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships. Karlovic, who is nine years older than Cilic, won in three sets.

The round of 16 match between Karlovic and Cilic is scheduled for Thursday.

On Tuesday, the first-seed Russian Danil Medvedev, who just won the ATP Masters 1000 Series tournament in Shanghai, dropped out of the tournament in Moscow. He has played in six consecutive finals, after all. Medvedev was replaced in the main draw by a lucky loser from the qualifications, Serbian tennis player Nikola Milojevic.

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