Marathon man Muller falls short against Cilic
Eventually, Croatian fire melted Luxembourg ice. After Gilles Muller’s marathon upset of Rafael Nadal on Manic Monday, another five-set war proved a bridge too far against Marin Cilic, who advances to his first Wimbledon semi-final.
It was understandable that Muller would run out of steam after his near five-hour tussle against Nadal, with Cilic running away with the final set. That did not reflect how closely contested was this serve-dominated match, which finished 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 in 3½ hours.
The No 7 seed will face fellow big-hitter Sam Querrey in what must rank among the least-anticipated semi-finals of modern times. Not that Cilic will care. The 2014 US Open champion has a 100 per cent record against the American, including winning the second-longest match at Wimbledon in 2012 that ran five hours and 31 minutes.
Do not expect Cilic’s tactics to deviate. Against Muller, he sent down 33 aces. A further 34 serves went unreturned. The longest rally was 11 strokes, giving an impression of what was far from the finest exhibition of tennis the All England Club has hosted, unless you are an aficionado of 132mph howitzers.
More entertainment was derived from the men’s contrasting personalities. Muller was stony faced, emotionally inscrutable, while Cilic’s heart was practically tattooed on his sleeve. “Showing more positive emotions is helping me to continue with aggressive tennis,” Cilic said. “That is something I was working on. It’s paying off.”
Muller picked up where he left off against Nadal, breaking Cilic twice in the first set and forcing break points in the second. But after losing the second in a tie-break, Muller’s impenetrable facade slipped and, for the first time in 31 service games, he was broken in the third. Muller rebounded to snatch the fourth before falling away.
The giant-killer met his match in 6ft 6in Cilic, whose form you sense is dependent on his confidence. At present, it is sky high. of Wimbledon orders on Tuesday were for the ladies’ quarter-finals, compared to 28 per cent for the men’s.