An unlucky Marin Čilić was forced to withdraw from the quarterfinal of the Masters 1000 Series tournament in Madrid. Namely, Čilić was meant to face Novak Djokovic on Friday afternoon, though a bad bout of food poisoning had different plans and gave Čilić no other choice, reports T.portal on May 10, 2019. 

Čilić addressed his fans in an Instagram post on Friday morning:

“To the fans, @mutuamadridopen organizers, spectators and @djokernole I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today's match. I have had a terrible night dealing with a case of food poisoning. I am extremely disappointed to have my time in Madrid end in this way. Thank you for the support and I look forward to returning next year…”

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To the fans, @mutuamadridopen organizers, spectators and @djokernole I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today's match. I have had a terrible night dealing with a case of food poisoning. I am extremely disappointed to have my time in Madrid end in this way. Thank you for the support and I look forward to returning next year...

A post shared by Marin Čilić (@marincilic) on May 10, 2019 at 2:23am PDT

Čilić was set to play Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinal in Madrid. Djokovic is currently the best player in the world and has beaten Čilić 17 of the 19 times the two have been matched against one another. However, Čilić’s sweet victory against Djokovic at the Queen’s Club in London last year was the game of his career. The Croatian tennis player was hoping for the same result against Djokovic again. 

Unfortunately, there will be nothing of Marin at this year's Madrid Open. At this Masters 1000 Series tournament, however, Čilić managed to end his negative line of defeats and won against Martin Kližan, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Laslo Đere.

If he recovers in time, the next challenge for Čilić will be the tournament in Rome next week. And let’s not forget, the highly anticipated Ronald Garros begins on May 26.

Recall, Petra Martić failed to defeat the eighth best tennis player in the world, American Sloane Stephens. Stephens celebrated in the quarterfinal match in two sets - 6:4, 6:3.

Mate Pavić and doubles partner Oliver Marach also failed to win their quarterfinal match, losing to Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Marin Čilić has made it to the quarterfinal of the Madrid Open!

Croatian tennis players Petra Martić and Donna Vekić advanced to the 3rd round of the WTA tournament in Madrid after eliminating Angelique Kerber and Kristýna Plíšková, reports Gol.hr on May 6, 2019. 

Petra Martić made it to the 3rd round of the Madrid Open without a fight. After knocking out double Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruz in the first round, Martić was meant to play against Angelique Kerber, the fourth best tennis player in the world, who was forced to retire due to an ankle injury.

Donna Vekić defeated Czech qualifier Kristýna Plíšková. (WTA-94) with a score of 6-4, 6-4 after an hour and 26 minutes of play. After Vekić broke at 4-2, Plíšková managed to get back for 4-4. However, the Croatian tennis player took her opponents serve and the first set. 

In the second set again, Vekić was first to come to a break, but Plíšková still managed to return the lost service. At 3-3, Vekić once again took her opponent’s service and routinely ended the match with a victory. 

In the last 16, we will see Croatia's best female tennis players, Donna Vekić and Petra Martić meet on Wednesday afternoon. 

Marin Čilić will also play in the round of 16 of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. Croatia’s best male tennis player secured two wins in a row (for the first time after the Australian Open) after defeating Slovakian Martin Kližan in the first round on Tuesday and German Jan-Lennard Struff (ATP-49) in the second round with 4:6, 6:3, 6:4. Marin’s next rival will be either Del Potro or Đere. Thanks to these results, Marin has also jumped one position on the ATP ranking and is again among the top 10 tennis players in the world.

Borna Ćorić was sent home early from Madrid after losing to Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the first round 6:3, 7:5.

Mate Pavić and doubles partner Oliver Marach defeated Croatian-French duo Ivan Dodig and  Edouard Roger-Vasselin after a big fight in three sets - 6:4, 3:6, 10:5. They will play in the quarter-final against Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.