Cilic outlasts Rublev on way to semi-finals
Marin Cilic overcame seventh seed Andrey Rublev in five sets to reach a first semi-final at the French Open.
Cilic, 33, who won the US Open in 2014 and was a Wimbledon finalist three years later, beat his Russian opponent 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.
In doing so, Cilic became only the fifth active player to have reached the last four of every grand slam, after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
After their 4hr 14min slugfest, the Croat said: “The win comes from being me. I played that kind of tennis the whole match. Especially the fifth set was an incredible battle.
“A lot of heart. One had to go down and today was my day. But
Andrey also played an incredible match. Bad luck to him.
“I felt more tired emotionally out there because Andrey plays a difficult game, he serves big, hits big, and you don’t have many chances.”
Cilic will now face Norway’s Casper Ruud, who beat 19-year-old Dane Holger Rune 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 last night.
Liam Broady got the better of fellow Briton Jay Clarke in three sets at the Surbiton Trophy to begin his grass-court season with a win. The first-round tie at the south-west London venue had started on Tuesday, with world No163 Clarke able to take the opener with the only break point of the first set. Rain prevented any more action but once the match resumed yesterday, Broady took control. A 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win ends a poor run for the former Wimbledon junior finalist, who had started 2022 impressively before he experienced a dip in form during his clay-court campaign.
Next up for the Briton will be a second-round match with seventh seed Denis Kudla, who edged out Alexei Popyrin in three sets.