The 20th seed Marin Cilic is safely through into his first Major quarter-final since the 2018 US Open. The 2005 Roland Garros junior champion toppled world no. 2 Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 45 minutes during the night session on Court Philippe-Chatrier to move into the last eight and remain on the final course.
Medvedev came to Paris with only one match in his legs on clay this spring, playing well in the opening three rounds before hitting rock bottom tonight. The Russian hit 15 winners and almost 30 unforced errors, and he needed much more than that to challenge a brilliant rival.
Marin did everything right on the court, dropping only 17 points in his games and never facing a break point. The Croat landed 33 winners and 22 unforced errors, controlling his strokes superbly and leaving the opponent far behind.
Medvedev failed to create a break chance and got broken five times from seven chances offered to his rival to end his run in the fourth round.
Marin Cilic lost only seven games against Daniil Medvedev at Roland Garros.
Daniil stayed in touch in the shortest range up to four strokes.
Still, that was all we saw from him, as Marin toppled him in the mid-range and most advanced exchanges to control the scoreboard and set the quarter-final meeting with another Russian, Andrey Rublev. Both players made a strong start in their service games, and the returners barely took a couple of points.
An ace pushed Marin 3-2 ahead after only 17 minutes and forged the advantage after Daniil’s backhand error in the next one. Cilic held at 15 in game seven to extend the lead and broke for the second straight time in the next one after Medvedev’s double fault for 6-2 in 29 minutes.
With a boost on his side, the Croat dropped five points behind the initial shot in set number two and fired 13 winners to keep the rallies on his racquet. Medvedev produced two fine holds to remain in touch early on. Like in the opener, Marin broke him in game six with a forehand winner at the net, seizing every opportunity so far and building a massive lead in 52 minutes.
The Croat served well in games seven and nine and closed the set when the Russian sprayed a backhand error at 3-5. Flying over the court, Cilic forged a 4-0 advantage in the third set with a vintage hitting, gaining a boost and sending Medvedev further away from any chance for a comeback.
Serving at 5-2, Marin forced Daniil’s backhand mistake to emerge at the top and wrap up one of his finest performances at Majors.
Source: Tennis World USA