French Open 2022: Surprise! Marin Cilic rolls over Daniil Medvedev
Marin Cilic is surprisingly in the quarterfinals of the French Open, the Croatian threw the world number two Daniil Medvedev out of the tournament with an impressive performance in three sets. Now it's up against Andrey Rublev .
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: May 30, 2022, 10:49 pm
Apparently, Daniil Medvedev was really happy to be able to play in the night session at the French Open 2022. And of all things against Marin Cilic, something of a favorite opponent of the Russians, since the previous three duels with the Croatian have all gone to the second in the world rankings. However, none of these took place on sand, as Medvedev had noted in the run-up to the match.
It should be obvious that sand is not hard court. The fact that sand is not just sand is probably the same. But what also seems to have surprised Medvedev is how differently the Court Philippe-Chatrier can be played as soon as the evening hours have broken in Paris - and the ball no longer bounces as high as it is during the day .
Cilic perfectly adjusted tactically
Marin Cilic, on the other hand, was well prepared for this circumstance, unconditionally tapping the yellow felt ball with his forehand from the start and tactically had one main direction in mind: Attack is the best form of defence. A gold handle. After just 31 minutes, set one went to the Croatian, who added another to the break to make it 4:2 to win the set - and was thus allowed to open round two.
No downside, as it turned out. Cilic served cheerfully in front, was the first to grab the break in set two and quickly pulled away to 5:2. Although Medvedev managed to shorten it again with his own serve, this should change very little at the end of the sentence. Because Marin Cilic showed no nerves and made it 2-0 with his own serve without batting an eyelid.
Medvedev fails to turn things around
Medvedev now tried to keep his distance and left Court Philippe-Chatrier for a good five minutes. Also with little success. Because this time the Russian had to give up his service in the first service game. From now on nothing went together with the world number two from Russia: Cilic managed another break to make it 3:0, after a little more than an hour and 40 minutes the 33-year-old made it 6:2, 6:3 and 6:2. success perfect.
In the quarter-finals on Wednesday, Marin Cilic meets Andrey Rublev, who benefited from an injury-related retirement from Jannik Sinner (knee) in the late afternoon. The second quarterfinals on the lower half of the tableau are contested by Casper Ruud and Holger Rune, who caused a surprise against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as well as Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz meet at the top.
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