Marin Cilić

[Damian]

Cilic Fends Off Bublik, Advances to Ninth Queen's Club QF

Spoiler:

Two-time Queen's Club champion Marin Cilic advanced to his ninth quarter-final at the Cinch Championships with an entertaining 7-6(6), 7-5 victory against Alexander Bublik on Wednesday.

Seventh seed Cilic battled back from an 0/5 hole in the opening-set tie-break by turning the tables to win the final five points, saving three set points from 3/6 in the process. He pressed home his advantage by taking a 3-0 lead in set two before Bublik got himself back in the match with his unique brand of shotmaking, complete with a bevy of underarm serves.

"The most important thing against Alexander is to keep focus," Cilic said post-match. "You never know what's coming. He made it a little bit crazy in the second set and out of nowhere started to do these underarm serves and slices and drop shots, just breaking up the rhythm. He broke me there, so it was not comfortable to play [at the] end of the second set."

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Bublik used two underarm serves to escape 0/30 at 0-3 and later broke Cilic to love to get back on serve. But the Croatian stuck to the task and clinched the match with his second break to avoid another tie-break and a possible third set.

"It's unconventional tennis that he plays, and he's quite good at it," Cilic said of his opponent. "Great serve and then backs it up with some of those things. Never easy, especially on a grass court, the ball stays low. Most importantly, I kept my focus and I served well at the end of the second set, and that was the key."

Cilic improves to 34-11 at The Queen's Club, where he won the title in 2012 and 2018 and reached the final in 2013 and 2017.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/cilic-b ... -wednesday

[Kamileki]

[Nando]

[Nando]

[Kiefer]

[Nando]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Cilic Continues Impressive Queen's Club Record

Spoiler:

Marin Cilic maintained his love affair with the Cinch Championships Friday, moving past Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach the semi-finals in London for the sixth time.

The Croatian lifted the trophy at the ATP 500 grass-court event in 2012 and 2018 and has now earned 35 wins at The Queen’s Club, the most of any active player.

In a hard-fought clash on centre court, Cilic was the more proactive player. The 33-year-old hit 11 aces and fired his flat groundstrokes with precision to outmanoeuvre Ruusuvuori and advance after one hour and 48 minutes in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

"I am taking it step by step. I am trying to keep my form up and my level," Cilic said after claiming his 80th grass-court win. "Every match is a challenge. I am focusing and taking it step by step. Getting to 80 wins did not come overnight. It took a lot of years and training and matches. Hopefully there will be many more wins."

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The seventh seed, who arrived in London off the back of a first semi-final appearance at Roland Garros, is seeking to win his 21st ATP Tour title this week, but first of the year.

Cilic will continue his trophy bid when he plays Filip Krajinovic in the semi-finals on Saturday.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/cilic-l ... 022-friday

[Damian]

[Damian]

[Bombardiero]

[Art]

[Damian]

[Bombardiero]

Trochę szkoda, tak po ludzku.

[Damian]

[Nando]

[Nando]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Marin Cilic maintained his unbeaten record against Borna Coric as the 13th seed triumphed 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Croatian first-round clash. Cilic converted seven from 11 break points to ease to victory and improve his ATP Head2Head series lead against Coric to 8-0.

Cilic will take on Karen Khachanov in the second round. The pair shares a 2-2 ATP Head2Head series record, but Khachanov has beaten Cilic twice in 2022 — in Adelaide in January and in Doha in February.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/berrett ... 22-tuesday

[Damian]