If he keeps serving like this, there’s no reason to even think about quitting tennis anytime soon.
Cilic gave 33 aces to reach the last four at the French Open for the first time, defeating No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-2). 4 hours, 10 minutes on Wednesday in a test of strength and willpower.
“Andrey played incredibly well. One had to go down,” said 20th seed Cilic, “and today was my day.”
Along with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, the Croatian is the fifth active person to complete a full set of at least one semifinal run in all four Slam events, each of which is ranked No. Victory is achieved.
Cilic was Federer’s runner-up at Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018; The latter was Cilic’s most recent visit to the Slam semi-finals.
Cilic will face No. 8 Casper Roode on Friday for a place in the final. The other men’s semifinalist is 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated Novak Djokovic against No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.
Norway’s 23-year-old Rood defeated 19-year-old Rune of Denmark 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Their match turns a bit sloppy, with Roode telling Rune that he doesn’t appreciate him, questioning an apparent caretaker call.
“I told him, what, why do you need to check every mark?’ And he told me to shut up. I asked him, maybe asking your opponent to shut up when I’m talking to you isn’t the biggest thing?’ And he said it one more time. So that was all. And I didn’t exchange any more words with him after that,” Rood said.
“So that’s what he wants to say and behave? It’s up to him.”
Rune confirmed Rudd’s conversation.
Rune had never won a Grand Slam match until last week.
“Obviously disappointed that I couldn’t do better today. But still I have to see two weeks – it was great,” Roone said.
“I mean, I’ve played some good matches. There’s a lot of positives to take.”
Cilic may be a decade older than his next rival, but he is feeling well these days.
When he had a physical exam in late 2021, he said, his doctor told him: “Your body is like 25.”
Jari Cilic: “Don’t tell my wife I’m saying this, (but) I can play another 10 years.”
All joking aside, he added: “How long? We’ll see. But certainly three, four years, if I can be competitive like this.”
He dropped Rublev’s career mark 0-5 in the major quarterfinals. This was thanks to Cilic’s tremendous ability to ground strokes for serves and winners – 88 in total, more than double Rublev’s total of 35.
“It was emotionally tough, because he played some games very well,” Cilic said.
“When you play that long, there’s always going to be some ups and downs, so I had to shift my focus.”
Rublev twice displayed good sportsmanship, indicating early in the tiebreaker that Cilic had indeed had a stroke and first at 1-all in the fifth set, after Cilic had complained about a point to replay. Was told to volunteer that a shot that was called touched a line. ,
As part of an agreement between the four Grand Slam hosts to standardize one element of the game, it is the first time the French Open has used tiebreakers in the fifth set of men’s matches – and the third set of women’s matches. Is.
Cilic ran away with a first-to-10 format against Rublev, collecting the last nine points of the match after going 2–1 down in the tiebreaker.
The 6-foot-6 (1.98 m) Cilic has one of the biggest servings on the tour, and he averaged 123 mph (199 kph) on Wednesday, leading them to 133 mph (214 kph). hours).
He hit three aces in the tiebreaker.
“Almost all the important points he was winning with his serve,” Rublev said, “and it was really, really hard to read or return.”
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